Plibersek pans Bishop’s Pacific ANZ deal amid foreign aid cuts

THE announcement of a Pacific development partnership with the ANZ bank is piecemeal in the face of cuts to ­foreign aid, says the opposition.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop

development: The announcement of a Pacific development partnership with ANZ Bank is piecemeal in the face of billions in cuts to ­foreign aid, the opposition says.

Visiting Melbourne yesterday to sign a memorandum of understanding with ANZ chief executive Mike Smith, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the deal would provide the first opportunities for ­Pacific ­Islanders to participate in the formal economy.

Labor’s spokeswoman on foreign affairs, Tanya Plibersek, said that while the opposition welcomed government and business working together on development in the region she had doubts about the difference such initiatives would make.

“Given Julie Bishop has cut an unprecedented $11.3 billion from overseas aid, I don’t think the world’s poor will take much comfort in announcements like these,” Ms Plibersek said.

Ms Bishop said the deal would offer Pacific communities the chance to better manage finances, start small businesses, bank online and save money. “It’s not well known that about 80 per cent of Pacific Islanders don’t have ­access to basic financial services,” she said. “In many instances that includes a basic savings account.”

The three-year MOU comes after the Foreign Affairs Department and ANZ collaborated in the Solomon Islands to extend the rollout of mobile phone banking to rural areas. Ms Bishop said that ANZ had been chosen because it had the most extensive network in the Pacific, with branches in 12 countries. “When we can work with the private sector our overseas development systems can be ­provided more efficiently, more effectively, more innovatively, and this memorandum of understanding exemplifies all that we’re seeking to achieve in our aid budget, focused particularly on our region,” she said.

The government had signed a similar memorandum with Westpac, which subsequently sold its business in the region.