Howard's pathetic aid record

Sir Bob Geldorf — of Boomtown Rats and Band Aid fame — has 
lashed out at the Howard Government over its neglect of overseas 
aid. "Embarrassingly pathetic" was how the Irish artist described 
Australia's aid effort in a widely reported interview last 
week.

The Rev Tim Costello — brother of Treasurer Peter Costello — 
compounded the embarrassment for the niggardly Federal Government 
by publicly endorsing the criticisms. Australia's record low 
contribution of 0.25 percent of Gross National Income is one of 
the lowest rates in the world and is well below the agreed 
international target of 0.7 percent. It is considerably smaller 
than Denmark (0.96 percent), Ireland (0.41 percent) or even the 
UK (0.3 percent).

Australia has also drawn criticism for granting aid not on the 
basis of need but in ways that will advantage Australian 
corporations. Kerry Packer's GRM company has reportedly scored 
$200 million worth of contracts in just one example of this 
dubious "boomerang aid". Over 70 percent of Australia's overseas 
aid falls into this pro-corporate category.

The people of Australia are clearly not as stingy as the Howard 
Government. In 2003, 1.8 million people were involved in 
supporting an overseas aid and development NGO either as a 
regular supporter or by supporting a fundraiser or event, or 
giving a one-off donation. The Australian public donated over 
$386 million to aid and development work through Australian NGOs 
— an increase of $38.34 million or 11.03 percent over last year.

Not-for-profit campaigning group Aidwatch has asked Australians 
to write letters to the editor to protest the Federal 
Government's shirking of its responsibilities. They have set out 
a number of tips for would be letter writers in a recent media 
release:

1. Refer to the most important point in the first paragraph.

2. Reference the title, date and author of the original piece in 
your opening sentence if you are responding to a previously 
written article. For example, "Aid embarrassingly little": Tim 
Costello, AAP, Nov. 10th 2004

3. Write between 100 and 200 words — shorter is better. No more 
than three quick paragraphs.

4. Suggest what the reporter/author should have said.

5. Do not waste space repeating what the article said. Instead, 
begin with your main point.

6. Attach a contact phone number and residential address, in 
addition to your name.

7. Send it in ASAP to get in tomorrow's paper.

8. Forward us a copy so we can keep an eye on where the issue is 
going.

aidwatch@aidwatch.org.au