The swingeing cuts to foreign aid promised by the Coalition – to be made simultaneously with significantly increased defence spending – would hurt the world’s most vulnerable people and make Australia less safe, humanitarian groups have said.
The Coalition’s finance spokesperson, Jane Hume, announced on Thursday, two days before the federal election, that an elected Coalition government would cut $813m from Australia’s foreign aid budget, with funding to the Pacific, Indonesia and Timor-Leste to be quarantined from reductions.
“We will cut waste, control expenditure growth and ensure that every dollar that is spent by government is focused on delivering essential services and strengthening our nation,” Hume told a press conference on Thursday.
With Australia’s immediate region quarantined from reductions, the aid cuts would likely come from Australian development commitments to Africa and South Asia.
Humanitarian groups argue the Coalition’s announcement follows a “disturbing global trend” of cuts to international development, including recent cuts to aid budgets from the US, UK, the Netherlands and Germany.
The Trump administration, in particular, has cut 83% of the programs – worth “tens of billions of dollars” – run by the US Agency for International Development, formerly the largest aid agency in the world.
“Security isn’t just about bullets and bombs,” the chief executive of Save the Children Australia, Mat Tinkler, said. He added the Coalition’s commitment to cut the aid budget by $813m over four years, while simultaneously promising to increase defence spending by $21bn over five years, was counter-productive.
“At a time of catastrophic global need, we’d hoped to see an increase in lifesaving aid – not an $813.5m cut that will likely hurt the world’s most vulnerable children,” Tinkler said.
“We welcome the decision to spare the Pacific, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. But Australia has a responsibility beyond our region. We cannot turn our backs on Africa [and] South Asia … particularly at a time when children there need us more than ever.”
Tinkler said both sides of Australian politics should commit to increasing – not cutting – aid spending from 0.65% of Australia’s total budget to 1%.
The Reverend Tim Costello, the executive director of Micah Australia, said Australia faced a more complex and unstable world and, at a time when other global donors were retreating, “this is a moment for principled leadership, not retreat”.
“This is a deeply disappointing announcement,” he said. “Real security isn’t only built through defence spending – it’s built through trust, stability and long-term partnerships. That’s what aid delivers, and why it must not be allowed to fall further behind.”
Matthew Maury, the chief executive of the Australian Council for International Development, said cutting aid, at a time of global uncertainty, “risks weakening one of Australia’s most effective tools for peace, prosperity and stability”.
“A strong aid program is not just generous – it is smart, strategic and deeply aligned with Australia’s national interest.”
There is significant disquiet over the proposed cuts from within members of the Coalition.
A Liberal MP told the Guardian cuts to foreign aid were an abrogation of Liberal party values and of Australia’s moral obligations to the developing world.
“It is a core Liberal value to support those in other parts of the world who, through mere circumstance of their birth, do not have the access to healthcare, education, personal safety and prosperity we enjoy in Australia.
“Investment in foreign aid is not a ‘nice to have’. It is a key component of our identity as a compassionate neighbour and nation. That must and should continue to extend to Africa and south-east Asia.”
In the lead-up to the Coalition releasing its election campaign costings, several Liberal party MPs told the Guardian they feared foreign aid would be raided to pay for other policy priorities.
“It is always an easy political fix to say ‘let’s cut foreign aid’ and ‘look after Australians first’, but as a relatively wealthy nation … we have an obligation to help our neighbours as much as we can,” a backbencher said.
Retiring Liberal MP Warren Entsch said it was “absolutely critical” Australia maintained aid spending.
“With the uncertainty around decisions taken by the leader of the free world, I think it is important that we continue to step up and be part of the solution.”
Australia’s aid investment is currently 0.65% of the federal budget, down from 1.12% under former prime minister John Howard.
As a share of gross national income, Australia’s aid commitment is 0.18%, placing Australia 26th of 38 OECD nations in 2023, down from 14th in 2015.
