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The Australian Government gives on average around $3.3 billion in aid each year. But how much is really aid? Military and police interventions, wheat board consultants in Iraq, debt cancellation and anti-terrorist measures can all be counted as ‘aid’. AID/WATCH has campaigned for 14 years to ensure that aid does not boomerang back to Australian corporations and institutions and is used for projects that meet the needs of communities.
Saddam Hussien and Alexander Downer protesing Iraq Kickbacks at the Cole Inquiry 2006
Whilst the Rudd Government has made a commitment to increasing the aid budget to 0.5% of GNI by 2010, Australia will still remain a ways off the internationally agreed target of 0.7% by 2015. However more importantly, in addressing the effectiveness of the Australian aid program, Australia must not limit itself to increasing the level of its aid but needs to take urgent steps to address the quality of our aid in order to deliver genuine poverty relief and meet the diverse needs of communities.
