ActNow by :

Australian aid overseas ACTION

Want to know where the money that Australian taxpayers give for foreign aid really goes? Act now to find out.

Submitted 11/04/2006 By gemma Views 27727 Comments 2 Updated 13/04/2006

The Lowdown

When:
Where:
Costs:

What’s involved?

The real destination of the money that the Australian government designates for 'foreign aid' is often a murky topic which not many people can give definitive answers to. If you're interested in knowing more about the topic, or are wanting to get more active in this area of policy, one of the first things that you can do is check out AidWATCH at http://www.aidwatch.org.au. AidWATCH is the only not-for-profit organisation monitoring Australia's aid and trade programs. They hold regular events, conferences and workshops and have an e-newsletter you can sign onto to get regular updates on Australia's aid policy. The next thing you might want to think about doing is sending an email to the ALP's Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Kevin Rudd (Kevin.Rudd.MP@aph.gov.au) and the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexander Downer (minister.downer@dfat.gov.au). Ask them for details on their policies concerning Australian aid, where it is distributed and how the government determines which organisations receive money.

I want to do this!

Discuss Now

Post Comment

RSS Comments
image

funnelweb 28-Apr-2007

AWB's are happening all the time, the reason this one was so high profile is because of lobbying by canadian and american wheat farmers who lost a lucrative contract to AWB. When dealing with corrupt regimes who demand cash payments in order to trade in their country, do you not think that happens? Halliburton are guilty of it. Look at the oil for food scandals. I'm sure major mining companies have done it. Is it really illegal if that is accepted practice within that jurisdiction? Do you call it bribery? I call it business. If you don't do it, the next business will. Do I condone bribery? Certainly not. But I don't condone corrupt regimes either. Where's the United Nations in all of this?

-----

image

gemma 11-Apr-2006

Sorry - one addition to this is that at the moment you might want to write to Mr Downer about the Australian Wheat Board saga re the food for oil program in Iraq and ask him what precautions are being take to ensure that such an event does not occur again. Not that you're likely to get a response to that!

-----