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10th
April, 2006
The
Australian Government is lagging behind other Western nations
in the amount it gives in foreign aid, according to a report
from the OECD.
The report shows the Australian Government gave away just
0.25 per cent of its national income in foreign aid, well
below the average figure of 0.47 per cent and the United Nations
target of 0.7 per cent.
The result means Australia now ranks at 19 out of the 22 countries
on the OECD list with only Greece, the United States and Portugal
giving a lesser percentage.
Other figures, however, reportedly show that private foreign
aid donations by Australians via non-government organisations
are the second highest in the Western world at 0.08 per cent.
In terms of government aid, Norway topped the list, giving
away 0.93 per cent, followed by Sweden with 0.92, Luxembourg
with 0.87, the Netherlands with 0.82 and Denmark with 0.81.
The United Kingdom gave 0.48 per cent of its national income
in foreign aid last year while New Zealand gave 0.27 per cent.
- DAVID ADAMS
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