Australian Aid

Foreign Aid Review:

• Economic Growth is the key to overcoming long term aid.
• In the past 5 years, Australia's aid budget has doubled, and will double again in the next 5 years.
• Australia will be spending $8 Billion on foreign aid in 2015.
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, commissioned a review of Australia's overseas aid budget.
• The Report does not really cover why the budget is growing so fast.
• Many people think the answer is obvious, helping people in need.
• Emergency Aid only makes up for 7% of the budget.
• 1 Billion people still live on less than USD $1.25 a day.
• In 1981, 54% of the World's population lived in poverty, by 2005 this had fallen 25% and in 2015 it will be less than 15%.
• Economic Growth of developing countries is the key to overcoming poverty, not foreign aid.
• The developing world has now overtaken the developed world in terms of economic output.
• Since 1990, massive economic growth in China has lifted over 500 Million people out of poverty.
• Australia's Aid program to PNG has been one of the largest and most innovative aid programs but there has been no improvement in poverty levels since independence in1975.
• Many people say that Australia is only contributing to foreign aid because it is about serving Australia's national interests. 
• People also say that sending extra aid to Africa and the Caribbean is all about our bid for a place on the UN Security Council. People also say that our participation in Afghanistan is just about impressing Washington.

Australia is giving more aid because of a combination of reasons, I think because they do generally care about  poverty and economic growth of developing countries but I also think it is in a large part because of the national interests of the country and impressing other countries such as the United States and the European Union.I think the benefits of such a policy are for the developing countries, because Australia is contributing a large amount of money to foreign aid but it also helps the international image of Australia, because it shows us as a kind, giving nation.