$3.7b aid cut: ‘false economy’ that will impact children in our region and beyond

Sydney, Australia, 15 December 2014: ChildFund Australia has condemned the Federal Government’s decision to axe the Australian aid budget for the third time since coming to power.

Treasurer Joe Hockey today announced that a further $3.7 billion will be cut from the aid budget over the next four years, taking the total funding cut to the sector to more than $11 billion since the Coalition took office 15 months ago.

This is despite earlier statements from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that the aid budget would be capped at $5 billion for the next two years, then increase year on year, according to the Consumer Price Index.

The first cut of $1 billion – 20 per cent of the total aid budget – will be made in 2015-16, representing the largest single-year cut in history. By 2017, Australian aid will be at its least generous level ever: just 0.22 per cent of Gross National Income.

Nigel Spence, CEO of ChildFund Australia, said: “At a time when regional security and prosperity are key foreign policy priorities for the Australian Government, it seems a very odd decision to cut funding for vital programs that are giving a hand up to some of the most vulnerable children and families in our region.

“The size and scale of these cuts is particularly damaging and affects programs already under way. For organisations like ChildFund, this is an incredibly frustrating and ineffective way to be working.”

Since the Abbott Government came to power, it has cut the aid budget three times and used money earmarked for aid to fund its Green Climate Fund contribution.

The impact of the latest cuts will be felt deeply by aid agencies working to help children and families in our region.

In January this year, ChildFund Australia was forced to scale back and delay programs in Laos, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam to cope with a $726,000 shortfall in federal funding. In total, 17 projects were directly affected by the cuts including an early childhood education project in rural Laos and several child protection projects.

Cuts to funding also saw the axe fall on ChildFund Connect, an acclaimed global education program that benefitted more than 9,000 children and youth across the Asia-Pacific region in the past financial year alone, and supported the Australian Curriculum’s focus on intercultural understanding.

Mr Spence said: “These cuts will dramatically set back our contribution to crucial progress in our region and beyond. This is an extremely poor choice for budget savings ÛÒ a false economy that will do more harm than good.”

Join the campaign to #SaveAustralianAid: save.australianaid.org

ChildFund Australia has expressed its deep concern about reports that the Australian government is considering cuts to the overseas aid budget for the third time since winning government.

Nigel Spence, CEO of ChildFund Australia, said: “A fresh round of cuts to a budget that has already been slashed by $625m this year is terribly unfair. It will also have a tragic human cost, by reducing life-saving aid programs for children and families at risk.”

While Australia’s aid program accounts for less than 1.5% of total government spending, it has already been used to deliver 20% of budget savings for the Coalition government this year. This followed a drastic $8bn reduction made in 2013.

The reported cuts are in contradiction to statements by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that Australia’s aid program is  the ‘flagship’ of the government’s foreign policy; a program dedicated to promoting prosperity, reducing poverty, lifting standards of living and enhancing stability in our region.

According to the annual aid review by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in 2013 alone the Australian Aid program responded to emergencies in 24 countries, constructed 9,000 new classrooms and vaccinated over 2.3m children, giving them protection from preventable diseases.

“This time last year, the Australian government was in the midst of delivering life-saving support to the many thousands of children and families whose lives were devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

“Almost immediately, Australia was able to provide emergency supplies to affected areas in the Philippines. Specialist medical teams were deployed to treat the injured. Defence force personnel arrived to remove debris and begin the reconstruction efforts. NGOs such as ChildFund were able to quickly establish child protection services and temporary schools,” said Mr Spence.

“Coupled with the enormous outpouring of financial support from the Australian public, Australia’s aid program was directly responsible for saving lives in the Philippines. It is something we should be enormously proud of. However, effective humanitarian relief and poverty reduction programs will be undermined if funds are cut or diverted elsewhere.”

Do you want to help defend Australia’s Aid program? Then add your voice to the #dontcutaid campaign.