Australian parties' aid commitments ahead of May 18 election

CANBERRA — The 45th Parliament of Australia has officially concluded, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday dissolving the government and announcing general elections for May 18. For the two major parties, the Liberal Party of Australia and Australian Labor Party, the election will be primarily focused on local issues. Morrison’s campaign is centered on a strong Australian economy to build Australia over the coming decade. Labor leader Bill Shorten is focused on a “fair go” by tackling concerns of growing inequality, with local action on climate change also creating a divide between the two parties. “In communicating the aid program, the government has been asleep at the wheel.” --— Marc Purcell, CEO, ACFID And yet, with regard to foreign aid and development, while Labor has committed to a stronger aid program than the Liberal Party, neither commitments are at the levels that have been seen in the past. Comparing aid promises The Liberal aid policy was cemented in its budget released last month — a program that is focused on engagement with the Pacific region, infrastructure, security, and growing commitment to humanitarian assistance. The Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific will begin work next financial year and additional policies at home will see reduced levels of immigration to Australia — a policy both parties have committed to. Since coming to office in 2013, the Liberal government — in its various forms — has implemented a range of changes that will continue. These include a target that 80 percent of investments effectively address gender issues, wider engagement with the private sector, and an innovation agenda. But its policy on refugees has been strongly criticized. Asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru have been kept in limbo for five years, as the government fought hard to prevent legislation requiring them to be brought to Australia if they need medical assistance. At the 2018 Labor National Conference, aid and foreign policy commitments from Shorten included 500 million Australian dollars ($357.7 million) to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, negotiation with the New Zealand government to rehouse refugees on Manus Island and Nauru, the creation of an Australian special envoy for refugee and asylum seeker issues, expansion of the community sponsored refugee program, and acknowledgement of and commitment to climate action. In their National Platform Constitution, the Labor party has said it would increase official development assistance to “at least” 0.5 percent of gross national income over time with aid increasing as a percentage of GNI starting with their first budget — but with no clear deadline on when that target would be reached. The Liberal party, however, has made no commitments on ODA. In a speech delivered at the University of Queensland in March, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong explained how Labor plans would affect the operations of the aid program within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Actions would include rebuilding aid capacity within DFAT, improving transparency of aid funding, increasing funding for the Australian NGO Cooperation Program, and the creation of a Pacific Avoidable Blindness and Vision Loss Fund. The pitch from Labor has received support from Australia’s development sector. “Labor announcement is a critical first step in restoring Australia’s aid program to internationally acceptable levels and showing our neighbors that Australia is committed to doing our fair share on the global stage,” John Brumby, chairman at the Fred Hollows Foundation, told Devex. “Australia can afford to do more and must do more to help some of the poorest people in the world.” Australian Council for International Development CEO Marc Purcell — the peak body for Australian INGOs — also praised the Labor platform, telling media: “Labor’s vision would trigger a wide-ranging recalibration of Australia’s international development program.” Jody Lightfoot, director at the Campaign for Australian Aid, which represents 50 of Australia’s aid and development organizations, said it was a commitment to match. “Labor is the first major party to announce a rebuilding of Australian aid if elected,” he said. “And we are calling on the government to match it.” From a foreign policy perspective, the refocus on Pacific engagement has been seen as a successful strategy by policy observers in rebuilding relationships with neighboring governments. Continued engagements and visibility of Australian leaders in the Pacific would be expected to help Australia achieve its goal of being the regional partner of choice. A shift from the past Yet today’s party promises do not compare well to the commitments of the past. In 2005, then Prime Minister John Howard pledged at a U.N. conference that his Liberal government would double the size of Australia’s aid program by 2010, from AU$2 billion to AU$4 billion annually. This was after strong commitments in humanitarian assistance following the 2004 Indonesian Ocean tsunami, when Howard committed a AU$1 billion aid package to assist with Indonesia’s reconstruction. And in the last aid budget statement of the Howard government, major new initiatives worth $1.8 billion were announced to assist Australia’s developing country partners to deliver better education and health services, improve infrastructure, and address environmental and climate change. The 2007 election campaign saw Labor commit to a target of 0.5 percent of gross national income being spent on foreign aid by the 2015-16 financial year, a target reaffirmed by both parties in the 2010 election. Are NGOs lowering the expectations of Australian aid promises? With commitments to aid in decline, the question is whether Australian NGOs are lowering their expectations on what to expect from political promises and whether embracing lesser promises is assisting a decline in global development assistance, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on April 10. “Times are very different,” Purcell told Devex. “Compared to 13 years ago, we are in a very different position economically and geopolitically.” Commitments from Howard, Purcell explained, were influenced by the desire to improve relationships with the Indonesian government. Economically, Australia was in a stronger position on the back of a mining boom. For former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Purcell said the commitment to spending 0.5 percent of GNI on ODA was linked to Australia’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council. After aid budget cuts received limited attention from the wider Australian public, committing to a strong aid program could also be considered a poor political move by parties. “It’s a reality that the concern about foreign affairs and development assistance is at the lower scale of Australian public concern,” Purcell said. “It’s a long-term piece of work for the next government to understand public sentiment, craft messages, and reengage. To reengage now there is a low level of knowledge, antagonism from the far-right, and indifference elsewhere is a hard ask for a political party. In communicating the aid program, the government has been asleep at the wheel.” But Purcell said the Labor commitment was significant in times of extreme budget cuts, saying he’d been told by the Labor party that the annual increase to ODA in line with GNI would be equivalent to AU$250 million being added to the budget each year. “That is a billion dollars additional over the forward estimates,” he said. “So now you've got a contrast — and a substantial increase. For Australian aid, this is significant, important, and needed.” Regardless, Purcell sees the promises of parties as a starting position with both ACFID and the Campaign for Australian aid pushing for Australia to increase ODA spending to 0.7 percent of GNI — and improve Australia’s awareness of why aid matters. And whether the Prime Minister leading the 46th Australian Parliament represents Liberal or Labor, Australia’s NGOs will still face an uphill battle with fringe parties, including One Nation, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party as well as independents. After May 18, the aid debate will continue.