The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed concern over a Commission of Audit report recommendation that the level of foreign aid be “decoupled” from gross national income.
Managing director Lyle Shelton says the recommendation should be rejected and noted that the Australian Government made an election promise to boost aid to 0.5 per cent of gross national income once the budget situation improved.
“It is disappointing enough that both sides of Australian politics walked away from Australia’s 0.7 per cent MDG (Millennium Development Goal) promise as part of a push to halve world poverty by 2015,” he says. “A recommendation to now walk away from the election promise to at least reach 0.5 per cent should be rejected.”
He noted that the UK, “whose budget position is far worse than Australia’s”, has already achieved the MDG target of 0.7 per cent.