MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
The Report of the Committee to Review Australia's Overseas Aid Program was
presented to me today by Mr Paul Simons AM, the Chairman of the Committee. It is
a fresh, independent re-examinationof Australia's aid policies and activities.
The report represents the most important contribution in over a decade to the
public policy debate in Australia on the nature and role of our aid program.
Mr Simons, former Executive Chairman of Woolworths, and his fellow Committee
members, Ms Gaye Hart, AM, Director of the Hunter Institute of Technology, and
Professor Cliff Walsh, Executive Director of the South Australian Centre for
Economic Studies, have produced a report of substance.
I congratulate the Committee on their report, especially in view of the wide
range of consultations and complex deliberations required in a short
timeframe.
The report reaffirms some major pillars of the current aid program. These
include its Asia-Pacific focus and the design of country-specific aid programs.
But it also proposes a wide-ranging, new agenda for the program. Significantly,
it recommends a single, development-focused objective for the aid program in
place of the confusion of goals created by the Labor Government. In addition, it
recommends the adoption of realistic targets for aid volume and suggests changes
to aid administration to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
program.
Having initiated the review, I am pleased to outline a two-step process
designed to ensure that the community has the opportunity to consider the report
thoroughly and thoughtfully.
The first step will be a period of public comment on the report. I am
inviting written comments on the report. Letters seeking this comment will
shortly be sent to a wide range of interested parties. In addition, a number of
public seminars will be held to provide further opportunities for
discussion.
Taking into account public reactions to the report, the Government will, as a
second step, carry out whole-of-Government consultations and prepare its formal
response to the report.
I welcome the challenges this report presents to the way the Government
administers the aid program. I expect to announce the Government's response to
the Simons Report by the end of the year, in time for incorporation in next
year's budget.>
Media contact: Peter Collins (Mr
Downer's Office) 06 277 7500/0411 414 695 Andrea McLaughlin (AusAID) 06 206
4966