Australian Foreign Aid
Economic diplomacy: Strategic funding comes in from the cold
Soft dollars
While the multiples of defence to aid and intelligence to diplomacy spending have received a lot of attention in recent years as they have relentlessly widened,…
Infrastructure for influence: Pacific Islands building spree
There is a building spree going on in our neighbourhood as Pacific Island countries leverage geopolitical rivalries to fill a huge gap. A rough estimate is that the region needs…
Finding a place for youth leadership in Australia’s new International Development Policy
Asia and the Pacific are the most youthful regions of the world, with 25 per cent of their populations aged between 15 and 29. Combined, the two regions are home to 60 per cent of…
Does Australia lack strategic imagination on aid and development?
Australia released a new International Development Policy last month and accepted all the recommendations of the Development Finance Review, which was released on the same day…
Economic diplomacy: Spirit of Australia charts a fresh course
Guns AND butter
The release of Australia’s new development aid policy earlier this month has been mostly welcomed as the latest move in the Albanese government’s effort to…
Life in Australia’s aid program - but not as we know it
Something else was going on with the release last week of the Albanese government’s first full-year budget. There was not a lot for the traditional development program. Yet…
Budget time: Will Labor rebuild Australia’s aid program, and how?
Labor came to office promising to rebuild Australia’s development program. In government, it has commissioned a new international development policy and a review into the use of…
Chinese aid to the Pacific: decreasing, but not disappearing
Chinese engagement in the Pacific regularly hit the headlines in 2022, sometimes with dire warnings. The recent China–Solomon Islands security agreement sent shock waves across…
Australia could lead the way on Rohingya crisis
The Rohingya people need a new deal. With Australia’s decision on 10 November to prioritise Myanmar nationals for humanitarian visas, now is the time for the government to step up…
Where does Australia’s new aid budget leave gender equality?
With the region currently confronting multiple crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic to climate change, Australia’s new aid budget, announced by the Labor government on 25 October,…