The future of aid, how aid agencies need to evolve and the impact of Australia’s foreign aid cuts were among the hot topics on Day One of the Australasian Aid Conference in Canberra.
The two-day research conference, organized by Australian National University’s Development Policy Center and The Asia Foundation, kicked off with Australia’s shadow foreign minister Tanya Plibersek criticizing the conservative coalition government’s aid cuts. The Abbott-led coalition has slashed the foreign aid budget by 11 billion Australian dollars ($8.6 billion) since coming to power in 2013.
Plibersek said amalgamating the Australian Agency for International Development into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had led to a significant loss in expertise and aid specialists that would be difficult to regain as most had “got new jobs.” The shadow minister said if Labor came to power, one of its crucial medium-term projects would be to “return that degree of expertise.”
About the author
Alys Francis
Alys Francis is a freelance journalist covering development and other news in South Asia for international media outlets. Based in India, she travels widely around the region and has covered major events, including national elections in India and Nepal. She is interested in how technology is aiding development and rapidly altering societies.
