This will result in a substantial increase in the aid budget going forward. In the 2010-11 Federal Budget, total Australian official development assistance (ODA) is forecast to increase to $4.3 billion, up from $3.8 billion in 2009-10.
Beyond 2015-16, as economic and fiscal conditions permit, Federal Labor will progressively increase Australia’s official development assistance until we reach 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income.
Australians are a generous people. They help out those in need. But they also have every right to expect that our aid dollars are used wisely and have a real impact on the lives of those less fortunate. Significant progress has been made in reducing poverty since the international community committed to the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, but there is much more work to be done.
Federal Labor has placed the Millennium Development Goals at the centre of Australia’s aid program, directing more funds to education, health and other basic services.
We have made education a flagship of the aid program to give children in poorer countries a chance to go to school and improve their opportunity for a better life.
We have also refocussed the program to improve the quality of Australia’s aid and to make it more accountable.
Our record on international development assistance stands in stark contrast to that of the Coalition. Throughout the former Coalition Government’s term of office, the Coalition’s contribution to foreign aid averaged only 0.27 per cent of Gross National Income, and hit a low of 0.25 per cent.
Right now, the Coalition’s policy on foreign aid is a $300 million cut to the foreign aid budget, an action which seriously calls into question the Coalition’s commitment to assist the world’s poorest people.
Tony Abbott has not ruled out more savage cuts to foreign aid if he is elected as Prime Minister on 21 August.
At his campaign launch, Tony Abbott committed to the establishment of a “Debt Reduction Taskforce” with a commitment to identify further cuts to Australian Government expenditure, with no guarantees that foreign aid will be exempt from further cuts.
The Gillard Labor Government is committed to an aid program that is generous, effective and in Australia’s national interest. Through the development assistance program, we can make a difference and improve the lives of millions, and it is our intention to do more.
A Good International Citizen: Australia's Development Assistance Fact Sheet