Aid Funding Focus needs to be in Our Region

By Ross B. Taylor

It probably would not interest many Australians, to learn that on the small Caribbean island state of Granada, they will soon start construction of a brand new Parliament House.

But it might however, interest many Australians if we learned that it will be our taxes that is paying for much of this construction; from our aid budget, thanks to the previous Labor Government.

This is just one example of where Australian aid money has been arguably, misplaced to say the least. It is also one reason why Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop has recently announced not only a slight funding cut to our aid spending, but a review of how we spend it. This is a well overdue and smart decision by Ms Bishop.

Already the minister has moved to place AusAid under the control of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Another good move.
AusAid is a department that has previously operated how it wished and without the levels of accountability that an organisation, which spends over $5 billion of our money each year, should be subject to. Too many aid contracts have been going out to their past-employees whilst in the meantime many smaller Australian companies who wished to obtain contracts for the delivery of aid projects, have found the  bureaucratic process simply too complicated and stacked against them.

Ms Bishop has sensibly announced that more of her government’s future aid funding will be
directed within our immediate region, including The Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the South Pacific islands to our east. Again, this is sensible, as it is in our national interests to ensure Australia’s neighbours not only receive assistance in areas such as health and education but also in addressing important social issues for women's and girls’ issues that will hopefully empower females in this region to become better educated and able to contribute more effectively to their own country's development.

It is in the area of infrastructure that will also receive much needed attention by these reforms. In many of our neighbouring countries, for example, farmers are extremely poor, yet what is the point of building capacity in farming with aid money when the produce can’t reach the market due to poor roads and handling systems? So the move to include the previously excluded area of infrastructure for selected aid funding should be welcomed.

No better example of how we misunderstand the notion of aid is within Indonesia; a country where relations are currently at a low level, and very strained. Unfortunately, for too many Australians, every time we see a problem with our northern neighbour, the same calls 'scream-out' on talk-back radio and letters to major newspapers: Withdraw aid funding.

Yet we forget that Indonesia, as do a number of other countries in our region, still struggles to help over 100 million of its people who live on less than $2.00 per day. But also an important oversight we make when criticising aid funding is that the funding often assists Australia in terms of our own interests and regional security.

Australia is, as a case-in-point, currently providing aid money to Indonesia to build
small and well run schools in very poor villages whose children - including young
girls - are now offered a decent education that is also "balanced" in its teaching. Without this funding some of these kids would end-up in very basic schools run by Muslim extremist groups created by people such as Abu Bakar Bashir and his colleagues who wish to see
Indonesia become an Islamic state; right on our doorstep.

To argue that we should 'penalise' a rich and corrupt Iraqi people smuggler who sits in an expensive hotel in Jakarta, by cutting funding to our schools program throughout Indonesia beggars belief and reflects – hopefully - our simple lack of understanding as to how
effective our aid funding can be if managed correctly. This is what Ms Bishop now seeks to do.

Australians are amongst the most generous donors of aid money in the world, and as a rich, prosperous and well educated country we should be. But the money must be used wisely.

In the meantime, when you are next in Granada, pop into their new Parliament House building and admire the large and gracious facility.

You paid for it.


Ross B. Taylor is the President and Founder of the Indonesia Institute. This article first appeared as an opinion piece in the print edition of The West Australian 21 January 2014.