Fed: OECD figures show drop in Australia's aid spending

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2010
Fed: OECD figures show drop in Australia's aid spending

By Samuel Cardwell

CANBERRA, April 15 AAP - Australia's overseas aid spending slipped by 1.4 per cent
in 2009, but the country remains on course to achieve its 2010 goals, according to OECD
figures released on Wednesday.

Official development assistance (ODA) by donor countries of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development rose 0.7 per cent in real terms and 6.8 per cent once debt
relief was excluded.

Australia's contribution fell by 1.4 per cent to 0.29 per cent of gross national income
(GNI), despite the overall increase by members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee
(DAC).

The drop in Australia's figure was "due to high debt-relief levels in 2008 which did
not continue into 2009", the OECD report said.

A spokesman for Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob
McMullan said the drop was more of a "statistical anomaly" due to discrepancies in the
way the OECD and AusAid calculate their figures.

"There are discrepancies between the OECD's reporting period and AusAid's reporting
period. The OECD looks at calendar years, whereas AusAid reports in financial years,"

he told AAP.

"We had around $300 million dollars in debt relief in Iraq which expired just before
the OECD reporting period, so that counted as ODA but not in the current period."

Another factor for the drop was a change in the Australian Bureau of Statistics' method
of calculating GNI.

"The Australian Bureau of Statistics changed the way they calculate gross national
income halfway through the OECD's reporting period, which amplified the apparent drop
due to the fact our GNI increased, but the actual aid output stayed the same," he said.

Oxfam executive director Andrew Hewett welcomed Australia's commitment to meet its
promised aid spending.

"This fall in aid spending now makes it essential that the government outlines a detailed
timeline as part of the upcoming federal budget to show how it will keep its promises,"

he said.

"Both the government and opposition have promised they will meet this target, but given
how far aid spending has slipped, we are worried about how they are going to get there."

According to Mr McMullan's spokesman, $3.17 billion was spent on overseas development
in the 2007/08 financial year, a 5.2 per cent increase from the previous year, and the
figure grew again by 9.4 per cent in 2008/09.

"So the actual expenditure is going up, but it was due to those different conspiring
factors that the statistical anomaly indicated a drop," he said.

"Built into the forward estimates is an increase in Australia's aid budget, and that
is something that is set in stone in the budget estimates for the next four years, and
I don't see any reason why we won't make those targets."

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KEYWORD: AID

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