Coronavirus: Foreign aid money found for needy Pacific neighbours
Australia will repurpose $280m of its aid budget this financial year to help the Indo-Pacific in its fight against the coronavirus.
Australia will repurpose $280m of its aid budget this financial year to help the Indo-Pacific in its fight against the coronavirus through a strategy that prioritises the most vulnerable, including women and the disabled, as China ramps up its “mask diplomacy” to try to win over nations across the region.
As part of the Morrison government’s new Partnerships for Recovery strategy in response to COVID-19, money that had been originally allocated to areas dependent on the movement of people such as volunteer programs and scholarships will instead be spent on bolstering the region’s health security.
The immediate focus will be on emergency health and humanitarian assistance with Australia’s nearest neighbours, with the Pacific, East Timor and Indonesia having priority.
The strategy, built on three pillars of health security, stability and economic recovery, will aim to buffer the impact of the virus on Australia’s neighbours, who are particularly vulnerable to the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, and ensure the stability of the region.
Australia has already deployed health experts, including to the World Health Organisation regional office in Fiji and the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health, and provided personal protective equipment and medical supplies to 23 countries and territories across the region.
An isolation centre has been established in East Timor and financial support provided to Pacific island governments to maintain the flow of essential services.
The shipments of PPE follow complaints across the world about defective Chinese-made testing kits and medical equipment, which have undermined Beijing’s so-called mask diplomacy, with Minister for the Pacific Alex Hawke previously alluding to the poor quality of Chinese medical supplies.
Many Pacific countries have not had the capacity to test for COVID-19 and have had to send specimens to Australia for results.
The government is especially concerned the pandemic will exacerbate the inequalities and hardships faced by already vulnerable groups, particularly women and girls and those with disabilities.
As part of the program, new visas will be issued to allow workers under the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Program to remain in Australia for up to 12 months.
The chief executive of the Australian Council for International Development, Marc Purcell, welcomed the government’s “strategic clarity” but called for the aid response to be expanded.
The council wants the government to do more than just draw on the existing development co-operation budget by repurposing existing programs in its response.
“In 2005, prime minister John Howard announced a new, additional $1bn humanitarian package for Indonesia after the devastating tsunami,” Mr Purcell said. “To underpin this COVID-19 strategy, the Australian government should allocate a new, one-off $2bn injection over four years at the next federal budget.”
Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the Coalition has cut the overall level of annual overseas development aid by $962.5m.
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