Julie Bishop, the Australian deputy leader of the opposition in parliament, argues that aid programs should go through value for money and effectiveness test to ensure that taxpayers’ money delivers real benefits to poor countries in need.
In her Sydney Morning Herald column, “The Bishop’s Gambit,” the Australian politician writes that aid should be cautiously targeted to avoid harming local economies and breeding dependency.
She stresses that efficient and effective aid allocation should be geared instead toward promoting self-sufficiency and uplifting living standards among recipient countries.
Bishop’s comments came amid controversies plaguing Australian aid, where an “unreasonable” proportion of the total fund goes to salaries of consultants and payments to huge private firms.
A lawyer from the Solomon Islands, Julian Moti, even said that Australian aid is “abetting corruption” following the release of findings of the recent Australian aid review.
