[Australia] Overseas aid to double within 4 years

from The Age

By Brendan Nicholson, Canberra

AUSTRALIA will significantly increase its foreign aid spending, with a strong focus on improving education in the region, eliminating corruption, cutting death rates for mothers and young children, reducing poverty and generating economic growth.

The white paper released yesterday maps out how aid funding will double to about $4 billion a year by 2010.

It includes a big emphasis on education, with 19,000 scholarships, double the present number and costing $1.4 billion, to be offered to students from Asia and the Pacific over the next five years.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recalled "the great Colombo Plan" under which a generation of the region's leaders were educated in Australia.

"The benefits of this investment are simply incalculable," Mr Downer said.

"Not only will many more of the region's future leaders learn their skills in Australia, but they will also develop a warm affection for Australia," the Foreign Minister said.

Australia will also spearhead efforts to control AIDS and roll back malaria.

Tim Costello, co-chairman of the Make Poverty History coalition, said that even with the significant increase, Australia would still be only 18th on the list of 22 OECD donor countries.

But Mr Costello said the paper provided an improved framework for alleviating poverty in the region and could greatly improve the effectiveness of Australia's aid program.

A key element of the new aid plan is an end of the system in which Australian aid has been "tied" — meaning it could only be spent with Australian-based companies.

Mr Downer said the change would allow foreign companies to bid for work in programs funded by Australian aid and would mean greater competition and value for money.

He said the strong anti-corruption push would continue, with measures built into all aid activities. "We will reinforce our existing efforts in governance by supporting better leadership in the Pacific and by helping local populations demand better government."

Australia would increase its assistance in line with the efforts of governments to strengthen governance, tackle corruption and better harness their own resources, Mr Downer said.

Opposition aid spokesman Bob Sercombe said the Government had adopted Labor policy in untying the aid.

Mr Sercombe said the paper provided an opportunity to draw a line under the Government's many mistakes in aid policy over the past 10 years.

Greens senator Bob Brown said the package outlined in the white paper was not enough.

"The greatest long-term contribution to global security and fighting terrorism would be better sharing of the developed world's gluttonous wealth," Senator Brown said. "People dying of malaria, AIDS and pneumonia are in more need of adequate medical care than they are of governance."

THE AID WHITE PAPER

HOW MUCH Aid doubles to about $4 billion a year by 2010, rising from 0.25 per cent of gross national income to 0.36 per cent.

THE TARGETS 700 million people in the Asia-Pacific region living on less than $1 a day and 1.9 billion on under $2.

AIDS 8.2 million people are HIV positive.

MOTHERS In six of the region's poorest countries, women are more than 50 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than Australian women.

INFANTS In Cambodia 10 per cent of babies die before reaching the age of one.

EDUCATION In Papua New Guinea half the children have less than six years' schooling.