The Wire

Last week, media attention was focussed intently on the mother-of-all giveaway budgets, which saw a large chunk of the surplus, thirty-seven billion dollars, channelled towards families, and into tax and superannuation measures benefitting those in high income tax brackets. On Friday, The Wire looked at how the environment lost out in this budget, but another area largely overlooked is Australia’s overseas aid program. While Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says this year’s budget represents a huge boost of Australian commitment to countries worse off than ourselves, like Papua New Guinea, others claim that much of that money will come right back to Australia. Erica Vowles spoke to Tim O’Connor Director of AIDWATCH.

AIDWATCH