Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the senator, and I know this is an area in which she has such a great interest and personal knowledge. We saw over the last nine years the slashing of Australia's development assistance. We saw Mr Dutton returning to the rhetoric around development assistance in the House this sitting period, and really that was a disgrace, because it reduced our influence and it left a vacuum for others to fill, and we have a lot of catching up to do.

That is why we are committed to renewing our closest relationships and advancing our interests and values. That's why we're boosting Pacific security and defence, supporting critical infrastructure and expanding Pacific labour mobility, and it's why we have increased Australia's official development assistance to the Pacific and South-East Asia—because it is in our national interest. We are rebuilding relationships to ensure that Australia is the partner of choice in the region for our security and for the security of our region.