Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak to the motion to take note of the addendum to the Australian Agency for International Development report for 2011-12.

AusAID has over many, many years done a lot of good work for the people in less developed, less favoured countries than Australia. Indeed, AusAID spends a lot of taxpayers' money trying to address some of the difficulties and problems, particularly related to poverty, around the world.

Like Senator Moore, I was also visited this afternoon by four young, enthusiastic, principled people from the Oaktree Foundation: Bronte Baldwin, Kani Martin, Kieran Dowling and Miriam Clarke. We had a chat for about half an hour about reducing poverty around the world. I was pleased to talk with these young people and to encourage them in the work that they do in trying to highlight the poverty around the world and how Australia, through AusAID and elsewhere, could indeed help.

I was pleased that they had a general view, as I do, that Australian aid should be directed, where possible, closer to home. It is my view that AusAID should be working principally in Indonesia, some south-east Asian countries, but particularly in PNG and the Western Pacific countries—countries to which Australia has, I think, a particular obligation. The members of the Oaktree Foundation and I had a chat about this and I was delighted to also hear their views.

As I said to members of the Oaktree Foundation today, whilst AusAID has over the years done a good job, there is some concern at present on the focus of AusAID and whether the delivery of some of its programs and some of its expenditure of Commonwealth money is appropriate. I would hope a government at the end of this year would have another look at that. There is a lot of disquiet up in my part of North Queensland about AusAID's work in the western province of Papua New Guinea in dealing with health and, in particular, TB issues.

I was asked by the young people who called to see me whether I would be prepared to make a speech in the parliament, making a commitment to the goal that we would all like to see or whether I would be prepared to attend a rally later in the year. I said to them, 'I'm not keen to go to rallies until I see what they're about and see whether there's an underlying agenda.' I also said, 'If it's going to be a rally where populist politicians get up and make all sorts of promises, then I do not think I want to be in the competition to make promises, unless I know I can discharge them.' I said, 'There are promises'—and I used the example of our Prime Minister, who, before the last election, promised hand on heart, that she would not introduce a carbon tax and then she did—'and that people at these rallies will stand up and talk about AusAID and say, yes, we are going to do this but, in the cold, hard light of day when the crunch comes and the budget figures come out, much as they would like to do it, they really are not in a position to commit themselves to that.'

I warned these young people—and they are only young; I do not want to discourage their view on politicians and the parliamentary process—and I said, 'Be careful of those who promise everything in relation to AusAID or any other issue that is of importance to you.' Certainly, AusAID does have a lot of money. It can be a force for real power and real good in our region. This report that we are discussing deals with some of the work that AusAID has done, but I am one of those who always think that AusAID can do a little bit better and I think the parliament needs to keep that under review.