Aid review is chance to put Australia back on the map

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Opinion

Aid review is chance to put Australia back on the map

By Marc Purcell

The first review of Australia's international aid program in nine years is a choice. A choice between shutting up shop, battening down the hatches or walking tall and speaking with the world. As Australians, we should seize this opportunity – to partner with other nations, share our expertise to tackle the world’s complex issues and demonstrate our nation’s success.

In a populist age, Australia's foreign relations could too readily fall into operating on fear and insularity. Fear of foreign interference, fear of being abandoned by allies and fear that by engaging with the world we are somehow short-changing parts of the Australian public.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has shown how effective Australian aid can be.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has shown how effective Australian aid can be. Credit: Michael Amendolia

But we cannot engage with the world on fear. We should not put up the barricades and arm ourselves to the teeth. Australia should get on the front foot and start a greater, more positive engagement with the world, assisting our neighbours in Asia and the Pacific. Being great partners and sharing skills and resources is good for the people of the region and its effective diplomacy. It is our best, long-term chance of building a peaceful and prosperous region for future generations.

We must not shy away, but project who we are – our values, our aspirations and our vision for the world. The aid program can do this because it is who we are. It is made up of Australian civilians and volunteers. Just look at the impact of the Adelaide cave-diving anaesthetist Richard Harris in demonstrating how we can work with our region and underpin our standing as a constructive partner.

Whether it’s the Fred Hollows Foundation training local doctors to provide sight-saving eye surgery, UNICEF immunising children against measles in Samoa, or Red Cross activating its network of teams across the world to saves lives in a humanitarian disaster, the aid program is the Australian hand of friendship and the genesis of partnership with local communities.

For that reason, we believe this new aid policy should be delivered by the whole of government and by the whole of society. We need an aid program that truly represents the character of Australia, bringing Indigenous Australians, diaspora communities and our diversity to the fore. We need to harness our society and Australian civil society, businesses and universities to be part of the aid program to match Australian characteristics and capabilities with regional challenges and priorities.

Countries in our region such as the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Timor-Leste, Cambodia and Laos are among the world’s least-developed countries. Together, up to 400 million people across the Asia-Pacific still live on less than $2.80 a day. There's still much to do to combat poverty, injustice and inequality. Add to this the impacts of climate change and the growth of authoritarianism and there is a high risk of backsliding on the immense progress that has been made.

Tackling food and water insecurity caused by climate change; gender equality; building inclusive economic growth and an active and inclusive citizenry are all things we can help our region with. We should not undervalue the role Australia can play.

And what’s good for people's wellbeing is also good for Australia in the long term. It is not why we do it, but we should recognise the benefits that flow from it. Our aid program does build true friends and allies for Australia and does result in a safer, more secure and prosperous world. In setting out this new aid plan, we must use our wealth, capabilities and comparative advantage to broker that positive future.

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We are – by some measures – the richest country in the world. Yet Australia’s aid program is at its lowest level in history as a proportion of our national income. It’s so low that if you had a $100 note, you’d spend just 20¢ on international assistance.

Not only this, but we are spread so thinly that the Australian government is reducing support to poor countries in Asia to increase it to poor countries in the Pacific. We can afford to maintain the friendships we have built and do more to help the people who are being left behind. How about 50¢ of the $100 note by 2025?

It is nearly 70 years since Australia began the Colombo Plan and an independent Australian aid program. From building peace in the Solomon Islands to helping Indonesia through the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Australians have a proud history of building a safer, more stable world.

Building on that tradition, we can give the most vulnerable and the poorest a fair go and in doing so, set the scene for a world in which Australia and its partners can thrive. Let’s put our aid program back on the map and make it a guiding light for Australia’s engagement with the world.

Marc Purcell is CEO of the Australian Council for International Development – Australia’s peak-body for international aid and development non-governmental organisations.

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