Australian Foreign Aid budget slashed in May budget

By Katrina RoeFriday 16 May 2014Hope MorningsSocial JusticeReading Time: 1 minute

Of the many cuts announced yesterday in the Federal Budget, one of the biggest losers was the overseas aid budget, slashed by $7.6 billion dollars.

Earlier in the year, the Federal Government abolished Aus AID, incorporating the portfolio into foreign affairs.   Tim Costello from World Vision says this has led to a loss of focus on aid and the absorption of Australia’s aid program into trade.

While Australia has previously committed to the Millenium Development Goal of committing 0.7% of GNP to overseas aid, our current level of giving has now dropped from 0.34% of GNP to just 0.29%.  This means that for every $100 of GNP, 29 cents goes to foreign aid.

In Britain however, the target of giving 0.7% to foreign aid has already been achieved. 

In spite of difficult economic circumstances in the UK, in the midst of delivering what Peter Costello refers to as a ‘slash and burn budget’, the conservative government of the UK, led by David Cameron declared that they would not “balance the book on the back of the poor.”

“Development and humanitarian issues should be above politics,” Tim Costello says.  “This is our international promise and to balance the books on the back of the poor, repair our budget on the backs of the poor is, I think, quite devastating.”

Audio – Hear Tim Costello, from World Vision, respond to the Federal Budget.