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Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia focuses foreign aid spending on Pacific region as US slashes aid programs
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia plans to spend a larger share of its foreign aid on its neighbors in Asia and the Pacific islands after the United States announced major cuts to development and humanitarian aid abroad. Three-quarters of Australia's total overseas development aid will directly benefit the Indo-Pacific region, which is a 40-year high proportion, according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Total aid for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is set to increase by only 136 million Australian dollars ($86 million) above the current year's spending to AU$5.097 billion ($3.22 billion). Neither Foreign Minister Penny Wong nor Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy mentioned Washington's foreshadowed cuts in explaining Australia's change in focus. 'Australia's development program is central to ensuring the stability and security of our region,' Wong said in a statement. 'In these uncertain times, we are ensuring more of Australia's development assistance is going to the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Australia's interests are most at stake,' she added. Conroy said Australia remained committed to multilateral aid channels despite Australia's shift toward direct bilateral aid deals. Australia will suspend or delay AU$119 million ($75 million) in payments to the multinational U.N. Development Program, the Global Partnership for Education and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria and TB. 'Flexibility is needed in this year's budget to protect our region's stability and prosperity — and reinforce Australia's role as a trusted and reliable partner for our neighbors,' Conroy said. The Trump administration said last month it was eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. Riley Duke, a researcher with the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, described Australia's aid budget as a response to expected reductions in U.S. and European aid spending in the Pacific. 'Australia has cut and delayed payments to multilateral organizations to give it room to respond to potential vacuums left by the rapid U.S. cuts,' Duke said. 'Australia's budget is becoming hyper-focused on its neighbors and the share of our aid budget that's allocated to the Pacific is amongst the highest it's ever been,' he added. Direct funding to Pacific island nations was at least 40% of the total Australian aid budget, he said. The foreign aid planning is part of a wider national economic blueprint for the next fiscal year that the government introduced to the Parliament late Tuesday. Duke said the shift in spending priorities indicated the government felt it needed to play a bigger role in the Pacific to secure the outcomes that Australia wants. 'The Trump administration has directly said that HIV and family planning are the kinds of things that they don't want to be engaged with and it looks like Australia in preparing to plug those gaps,' Duke said.
The Hill
26-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Australia focuses foreign aid spending on Pacific region as US slashes aid programs
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia plans to spend a larger share of its foreign aid on its neighbors in Asia and the Pacific islands after the United States announced major cuts to development and humanitarian aid abroad. Three-quarters of Australia's total overseas development aid will directly benefit the Indo-Pacific region, which is a 40-year high proportion, according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Total aid for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is set to increase by only 136 million Australian dollars ($86 million) above the current year's spending to AU$5.097 billion ($3.22 billion). Neither Foreign Minister Penny Wong nor Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy mentioned Washington's foreshadowed cuts in explaining Australia's change in focus. 'Australia's development program is central to ensuring the stability and security of our region,' Wong said in a statement. 'In these uncertain times, we are ensuring more of Australia's development assistance is going to the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Australia's interests are most at stake,' she added. Conroy said Australia remained committed to multilateral aid channels despite Australia's shift toward direct bilateral aid deals. Australia will suspend or delay AU$119 million ($75 million) in payments to the multinational U.N. Development Program, the Global Partnership for Education and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria and TB. 'Flexibility is needed in this year's budget to protect our region's stability and prosperity — and reinforce Australia's role as a trusted and reliable partner for our neighbors,' Conroy said. The Trump administration said last month it was eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. Riley Duke, a researcher with the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, described Australia's aid budget as a response to expected reductions in U.S. and European aid spending in the Pacific. 'Australia has cut and delayed payments to multilateral organizations to give it room to respond to potential vacuums left by the rapid U.S. cuts,' Duke said. 'Australia's budget is becoming hyper-focused on its neighbors and the share of our aid budget that's allocated to the Pacific is amongst the highest it's ever been,' he added. Direct funding to Pacific island nations was at least 40% of the total Australian aid budget, he said. The foreign aid planning is part of a wider national economic blueprint for the next fiscal year that the government introduced to the Parliament late Tuesday. Duke said the shift in spending priorities indicated the government felt it needed to play a bigger role in the Pacific to secure the outcomes that Australia wants. 'The Trump administration has directly said that HIV and family planning are the kinds of things that they don't want to be engaged with and it looks like Australia in preparing to plug those gaps,' Duke said.
The Independent
26-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Australia focuses foreign aid spending on Pacific region as US slashes aid programs
Australia plans to spend a larger share of its foreign aid on its neighbors in Asia and the Pacific islands after the United States announced major cuts to development and humanitarian aid abroad. Three-quarters of Australia's total overseas development aid will directly benefit the Indo-Pacific region, which is a 40-year high proportion, according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Total aid for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is set to increase by only 136 million Australian dollars ($86 million) above the current year's spending to AU$5.097 billion ($3.22 billion). Neither Foreign Minister Penny Wong nor Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy mentioned Washington 's foreshadowed cuts in explaining Australia's change in focus. 'Australia's development program is central to ensuring the stability and security of our region,' Wong said in a statement. 'In these uncertain times, we are ensuring more of Australia's development assistance is going to the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Australia's interests are most at stake,' she added. Conroy said Australia remained committed to multilateral aid channels despite Australia's shift toward direct bilateral aid deals. Australia will suspend or delay AU$119 million ($75 million) in payments to the multinational U.N. Development Program, the Global Partnership for Education and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria and TB. 'Flexibility is needed in this year's budget to protect our region's stability and prosperity — and reinforce Australia's role as a trusted and reliable partner for our neighbors,' Conroy said. The Trump administration said last month it was eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. Riley Duke, a researcher with the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, described Australia's aid budget as a response to expected reductions in U.S. and European aid spending in the Pacific. 'Australia has cut and delayed payments to multilateral organizations to give it room to respond to potential vacuums left by the rapid U.S. cuts,' Duke said. 'Australia's budget is becoming hyper-focused on its neighbors and the share of our aid budget that's allocated to the Pacific is amongst the highest it's ever been,' he added. Direct funding to Pacific island nations was at least 40% of the total Australian aid budget, he said. The foreign aid planning is part of a wider national economic blueprint for the next fiscal year that the government introduced to the Parliament late Tuesday. Duke said the shift in spending priorities indicated the government felt it needed to play a bigger role in the Pacific to secure the outcomes that Australia wants. 'The Trump administration has directly said that HIV and family planning are the kinds of things that they don't want to be engaged with and it looks like Australia in preparing to plug those gaps,' Duke said.
Associated Press
26-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Australia focuses foreign aid spending on Pacific region as US slashes aid programs
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia plans to spend a larger share of its foreign aid on its neighbors in Asia and the Pacific islands after the United States announced major cuts to development and humanitarian aid abroad. Three-quarters of Australia's total overseas development aid will directly benefit the Indo-Pacific region, which is a 40-year high proportion, according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Total aid for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is set to increase by only 136 million Australian dollars ($86 million) above the current year's spending to AU$5.097 billion ($3.22 billion). Neither Foreign Minister Penny Wong nor Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy mentioned Washington's foreshadowed cuts in explaining Australia's change in focus. 'Australia's development program is central to ensuring the stability and security of our region,' Wong said in a statement. 'In these uncertain times, we are ensuring more of Australia's development assistance is going to the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where Australia's interests are most at stake,' she added. Conroy said Australia remained committed to multilateral aid channels despite Australia's shift toward direct bilateral aid deals. Australia will suspend or delay AU$119 million ($75 million) in payments to the multinational U.N. Development Program, the Global Partnership for Education and the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria and TB. 'Flexibility is needed in this year's budget to protect our region's stability and prosperity — and reinforce Australia's role as a trusted and reliable partner for our neighbors,' Conroy said. The Trump administration said last month it was eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad. Riley Duke, a researcher with the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, described Australia's aid budget as a response to expected reductions in U.S. and European aid spending in the Pacific. 'Australia has cut and delayed payments to multilateral organizations to give it room to respond to potential vacuums left by the rapid U.S. cuts,' Duke said. 'Australia's budget is becoming hyper-focused on its neighbors and the share of our aid budget that's allocated to the Pacific is amongst the highest it's ever been,' he added. Direct funding to Pacific island nations was at least 40% of the total Australian aid budget, he said. The foreign aid planning is part of a wider national economic blueprint for the next fiscal year that the government introduced to the Parliament late Tuesday. Duke said the shift in spending priorities indicated the government felt it needed to play a bigger role in the Pacific to secure the outcomes that Australia wants. 'The Trump administration has directly said that HIV and family planning are the kinds of things that they don't want to be engaged with and it looks like Australia in preparing to plug those gaps,' Duke said.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia to redirect $100m in foreign aid to Indo-Pacific region after Trump pulls aid funding
Australia will redirect more than $100m in foreign aid toward the Indo-Pacific region to urgently plug funding gaps after Donald Trump announced the US would cancel around $US54bn worth in overseas development assistance programs. The official development assistance budget for 2025-26 will reach $5.1bn, an increase of $135.9m from 2024-25, but $119m will be reprioritised to support economic, health, humanitarian and climate responses in the neighbouring regions. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said 'hard strategic decisions' had to be made in after the Trump administration's decision to pause US foreign aid funding pending a review. The funding for three institutions will be affected during the 2025-26 financial year with the Albanese government reducing payments to the Global Partnership for Education and Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria and TB to $16.4m for the year. Australia will also provide $13m less in its core funding contributions to the UN Development Program, with the government noting it will still give a total of $189.5m to UN agencies over 2025-26. Three-quarters of the ODA budget for the year will go toward the Indo-Pacific region with $1bn over five years targeted at building economic resilience. A $370m package over three years will go towards the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, with USAID cuts resulting in food shortages. Other assistance will go to regional health resilience for essential services for HIV and tuberculosis, for example, and to support climate action in the face of climate-related shocks. Wong said the foreign development program was 'central to ensuring the stability and security of our region'. 'In these uncertain times, we are ensuring more of Australia's development assistance is going to the Pacific and south-east Asia, where Australia's interests are most at stake,' Wong said. 'We've had to make hard strategic decisions and focus on where our development assistance can have the greatest impact.' The minister set her sights on the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who has yet to rule out any cuts to the development budget. Guardian Australia reported on Tuesday that Liberal backbenchers are warning opposition leadership against cutting foreign aid to pay for a potential $15bn increase in defence spending and other big-ticket budget items. Tim Costello, the national director of Christian aid advocacy group Micah, welcomed the funding increase but urged the Coalition to back the commitment. 'Aid saves lives,' he said on Tuesday night. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'With USAID being absolutely smashed by Elon Musk and Donald Trump … some millions of people are going to die. That's not metaphorical.' The peak body for aid and humanitarian bodies, the Australian Council for International Development, said the extra funding and reprioritisation sent a signal to the world that Australia was not retreating from the region. 'The stakes have never been higher in our region. Australia's international development budget is at the heart of Australia's response to an uncertain world – underpinning stability,' Matthew Maury, the council's interim head, said. 'Any reduction in aid will be felt immediately creating both humanitarian and diplomatic costs, while allowing other nations to expand their influence in the region. Trump ordered a 90-day pause in January to foreign aid programs to undertake a review of their effectiveness. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said in March the US government would cancel 83% of USAID programs following the review's completion. US officials believe this totals around $US 54bn in assistance. In response, Wong asked the foreign affairs department to assess the impact of Trump's announcements and to determine which programs needed immediate funding. An additional $5m was provided in 2024-25 to maintain HIV programs in PNG, Fiji and the Philippines following the US's announcement.
