The latest budgetary and structural reforms of AusAID will alter
Australia's overseas development assistance program. Of
significant note is the Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie
Bishop's, announcement of a $600 million cut to this year's
foreign aid budget and the limitation of further foreign aid
investment over the next 4 years of forward estimates. This totals
$4.5 billion in cuts over 4 years, which will see a fall in aid
spending of up to 0.31% of gross national income (GNI): different
from the former government's target of having foreign aid grow
to 0.5% GNI.
Questions have been raised over the implications of the spending
cuts. As former Foreign Minister Bob Carr commented, one aim of
foreign aid has been to alleviate conditions exploited by extremist
militant groups. Will the cuts to foreign aid indirectly affect
Australia's regional security?
