Ah, I miss the lock-up, the Treasurer’s gruelling speech (well, gruelling for some), and the all-night session of aid budget analysis and response at the Australian Council for International Development offices. But, as I seem still to be the only Australian aid budget blogger out there (and for the life of me I can’t work out why that could possibly be…), I intend to contine to hold the Government’s feet to the fire with a veeeeery long, specially-designed foot-holder from all the way over here in Kathmandu.
AusAID’s budget page is here.
My very first, broad-brush reactions are that it’s not too bad given the general budget doom and gloom and the large deficits being racked up. But it’s a scaling back in ambition from last year’s budget announcement, pushing all the hard work of lifting Australia’s aid budget to 0.5% of Gross National Income (let alone 0.7%) by 2015 further and further into the future. There does seem to be a welcome increase in emphasis on basic social services and some acknowledgement of, and response to, the impact of the global financial crisis on developing countries and poor communities.
More soon…
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