The Federal Government will unveil a further boost to foreign aid to the Pacific in next week's budget, promising to lift development spending by a total of almost $1.4 billion over the next four years.
Labor pledged ahead of the election that, if it won power, it would ratchet up development assistance to South-East Asia by $470 million in coming years, while lifting spending in the Pacific by $525 million over the same period.
It's now vowing to plough an additional $375 million into the Pacific, bringing the total aid boost for the region to around $900 million.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the budget commitments would be a "major step toward the goal of making Australia stronger and more influential in the world".
"Our assistance will help our regional partners become more economically resilient, develop critical infrastructure and provide their own security so they have less need to call on others," she said.
"Without these investments, others will continue to fill the vacuum and Australia will continue to lose ground as we did under the Liberals and Nationals."
The Coalition slashed foreign aid in 2014 but lifted development spending when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region in 2020, largely through "targeted and temporary" boosts to the aid budget designed to help the Pacific to weather the crisis.
Aid groups gave the former government credit for its response to the pandemic in the region, including the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in several Pacific countries.
However, the sector also argued successive budget cuts to crucial aid programs over almost a decade were morally indefensible, and eroded Australia's diplomatic influence.
The chief executive of the Australian Council for International Development, Marc Purcell, told the ABC the government's promises were a "strong step" towards "revitalising the international development program that is a core component of our international engagement and foreign policy settings".
"We really welcome these additional commitments from the government, given the significant needs in our region and beyond. Human development went backwards due to the pandemic and Australia should be providing more support," Mr Purcell said.
"In challenging economic and geostrategic times, an increase to ODA is critical. The needs of our regional partners are clear: investment in health systems strengthening, climate change adaptation, gender equality, economic livelihoods and social protections."
The Australian government has not yet spelled out how the additional money will be spent, and Mr Purcell said development bodies "looked forward to seeing details of the additional funding on budget night".
Where will the money go?
In addition to the boost to aid spending, the government is promising to spend more money on a host of other Pacific initiatives.
Around $46 million will be spent on funding the Australian Federal Police operations in Solomon Islands, where they are helping to maintain security in the wake of violent riots late last year.
An additional $30 million will be spent boosting the region's aerial surveillance, while almost $19 million will be spent to establish a network of Australian Border Force officers across the Pacific
The ABC will also get $32 million to expand ABC content and transmission across the region as the government becomes increasingly anxious about threats to media freedom across the Pacific.
And the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific — set up by the former government to provide infrastructure loans and grants to Pacific Island nations — will also get another $500 million over the next decade.
Minister for International Development Pat Conroy said the government was bringing "new energy and resources" to the Pacific which would help "help build a stronger and more united Pacific family, and a more secure region".
In a statement, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham said the opposition welcomed "Labor's embrace of key Coalition programs to continue our Pacific Step Up that prioritises Australia's important relationship with our Pacific island family".
"Naturally, we will want to see the detail sitting behind the government's announcement, especially how any new spending is paid for and what it comes at the expense of."
ABC
