Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 12 December 2012:

With reference to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea regarding the establishment of an offshore processing centre on Manus Island (available at http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/_pdf/20110819-aust-png-mou.pdf):

(1) Can the Minister confirm that none of the costs incurred under the MOU will be considered official development assistance (ODA); if not, which components will be considered ODA-eligible.

(2) Which, if any, of the costs incurred under the MOU will be considered ODA.

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) provides guidelines on the appropriate use of aid funds to assist asylum seekers. Australia complies with these guidelines transparently.

The OECD DAC has advised AusAID that some costs relating to the establishment of an offshore processing centre on Manus may be eligible. For example upgrades to public infrastructure on Manus Island, to the extent that they meet the ODA test of having the economic development and welfare of developing countries (in this case PNG) as the main objective. As a result, only those costs which confer a benefit to the population of Manus can be counted as ODA.

Items such as the construction, maintenance and security costs of the offshore processing centres, costs of assessing and processing the status of asylum seekers (including legal costs) and costs for deportation or other involuntary measures to repatriate individuals assessed as not being a refugee are not considered ODA eligible under the OECD DAC definition.