Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

As has become the practice in this place, we do not think complex foreign affairs matters are appropriate to be dealt with by way of a simple binary motion, but I should take the opportunity to indicate that the motion that was put forward by Senator Rhiannon is factually incorrect. Nowhere in the Minister for Foreign Affairs' speech did she state that Australia could count military deployments as foreign aid. OECD guidelines are clear on what can and cannot be counted as official development assistance. The minister stated that the delivery of humanitarian aid or development services by the ADF should be acknowledged alongside other forms of assistance. In countries like the Philippines, Vanuatu and Nepal, the ADF has played a key role in Australia's humanitarian response. It is only right that Australia's full contribution to these international efforts is recognised. This is something that Senator Rhiannon would know if she had read the minister's speech.