Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister update the House on the reprioritisation of Australia's aid program in the budget to address important development challenges in our region?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for his question. I can confirm that the Australian government will deliver an affordable, responsible and sustainable aid budget and that while Labor is continuing to make unaffordable, irresponsible and unsustainable commitments, this government will focus on the quality of our investment in developing countries in our region.

We are focusing on results for our aid budget, and we will not be misleading the Australian public into making announcements, as Labor did, of an additional $5.7 billion to the aid budget which they then withdrew from the forward estimates. We will not be ripping $740 million out of the aid budget to plug a hole in the onshore processing costs as a result of their loss of control of the borders, making the Labor Party itself the third largest recipient of Australian foreign aid. Our priorities will include alleviating poverty through economic development, through public private partnerships leveraging the private sector and through the economic empowerment of women.

We are increasing the humanitarian aspects in the budget. In fact, over the weekend I was able to announce an increase of $100 million to the eradicate polio program across our region because we have put sustainability back into the aid budget.

Mr Whiteley interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Braddon will desist.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are also increasing the emergency fund that Labor had ripped money out of to fill black holes elsewhere in the budget. We have restored the emergency fund so we can respond to natural disasters.

But it seems that Labor have learned nothing from the debt and deficit legacy that they left us. They have committed to increasing the aid budget by $16 billion. I ask the Leader of the Opposition: where do they think they are going to get an additional $16 billion from when we were already borrowing a billion dollars a month just to pay the interest on their debt?

As the former Foreign Minister Bob Carr revealed in his travel log—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney will desist.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the member for Lilley confessed that the financial situation under Labor was ruinous—and he was absolutely right. But you could not rely on much else that Bob Carr said because, as the member for Holt reminded us in the Financial Review on 11 April:

If you ever wanted an example of the narcissism, self indulgence and immaturity that ran through the Labor party during its six years in government, Bob Carr is it.

Well, Bob Carr got one thing right: you cannot fund the aid budget on borrowings. We will deliver an affordable, responsible, sustainable aid budget.

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gorton will withdraw his unparliamentary remark.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.