Helping those beyond our shores is good business

Monday, May 30, 2011

By Simon McKeon,
Australian of the Year

Simon McKeon, 2011 Australian of the Year and former World Vision Australia Board Member, suggests that at less than 1% of the recent Federal Budget, Australia's overseas aid program is both the right thing to do and a sound investment, because it's contributing to the economic health and stability of our neighbours.

How does a Federal Budget reflect what it means to be Australian? How does it help to define our national identity, our place in the world?

There is a part of the Budget that does all this. It is a very small part – less than 1% – and in an environment where divisive politics often prevails, it is arguably unique in that it constructively has bipartisan support.
  
It is our Official Development Assistance program – our aid spending – and the ongoing commitment of both sides of Australian politics to this important investment in growth, stability and prosperity, is something we can all be proud of.

As a former board member of World Vision Australia, I have been privileged to have had a front row seat to witness Australia’s capacity to give generously as individuals.

Recent disasters in Japan and Christchurch and closer to home with floods and cyclones in Queensland have again powerfully demonstrated Australia’s capacity for compassion and generosity.

But I’ve also had the opportunity to see what a difference the aid provided by our Federal Government makes in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Given this generosity, it is both disappointing and perplexing that our government’s overseas aid program is not well recognised. Worse it is even coming under attack.

Contrary to widespread belief, Federal Government spending on overseas aid is not the most generous in the world. Notwithstanding our relative economic prosperity, we currently rank only 15th out of the 23 OECD countries.

There has been bipartisan support among the major parties in Australia to increase aid to 0.5% of Gross National Income by 2015. This bipartisan support is to be applauded because aid does save people’s lives and it is assisting poor communities, many of which are our closest neighbours.

We know that providing basic services works. Aid has helped to reduce the number of child deaths by four and half million a year since 1990, led to 60 million extra children being in school, and enabled 1.3 million people to access clean water.

And while giving aid is the right thing to do and reflects Australian values of compassion and helping to give a hand up to people in need – aid is also an investment in our own interests.

Aid helps foster economic growth and stability both in countries that receive aid but then also here at home.

Government aid complements our own private generosity and also helps foster opportunities for Australian businesses and their employees – to not only conduct business in Asia, the Pacific and increasingly Africa, but also to do good.

As you would expect in a global economy, the success of Australian business is increasingly linked to the economic health and stability of our neighbours.

My involvement with Business for Millennium Development – a group involving companies such as IBM, Oil Search, Goodman Fielder, Telstra and Visy – has highlighted to me how important it is for Australian companies to grapple with the issue of poverty and what it means for their overseas operations.

Even with the increase in this year's aid budget, Australia will give less than 50 cents in every $100 of value we generate. It is a modest and affordable investment, that is not only right for us to do but also presents as a strong business case. 

Of course we have to ensure our aid is spent effectively and there is growing evidence of the effectiveness of aid. The government’s review of the aid program, which is due to report shortly, is to be welcomed. 
Australia is a rich country. It is a lucky country. And, like any other, with many domestic challenges. But it is a country that can also be proud of what it does for other nations that have neither our resources nor our opportunity. 

We need to inject a greater understanding of Australia’s work overseas to combat poverty into the frequent debates we have around our national identity.

Our capacity for compassion should be recognised and praised. It is an Australian tradition that should continue, a tradition we can afford to continue while also meeting the needs that arise domestically. 

Opinion Pieces, Poverty, Asia and the Pacific, Australian Government, Disaster relief, Foreign Aid, Millennium Development Goals, Simon McKeon, United Nations

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