Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the “Freedom Flotilla” heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension…
As Australians head to the ballot box we are consumed with issues that are necessarily defined by national borders. However, as Australia takes up the presidency of the Security Council and attends the…
Amidst the controversy over Julie Bishop’s Guardian interview earlier this week, many of the interesting facts about foreign policy under a putative Coalition government were lost. Notably, the opposition’s…
A parliamentary inquiry examining Australia’s relationship with East Timor is underway and the proceedings so far do not make for comfortable reading. It’s a good time for an inquiry: East Timor successfully…
Global health campaigner Bill Gates is in Sydney today to lobby prime minister Julia Gillard to spend more money on global health, particularly the fight against malaria and polio. But while money may…
Allegations that Australia is funding death squads in West Papua have brought the troubled province back to Australian attention. Blanket denials by both Indonesian and Australian governments – standard…
Poor Greg Sheridan: he never met a prime minister he couldn’t be besotted with until Julia Gillard came along. Ever since she got the top job, he has been running a campaign designed to demonstrate that…
In the lead-up to the federal government’s decision to delay the promised increase in the aid budget, a CARE Australia survey found strong public support for Australia’s international aid program. From…
Reporting on the federal budget has been replete with commentary about “cuts” to foreign aid. But the fact is that the aid program was not cut in any meaningful sense of the word. In nominal terms, aid…
The government has postponed its foreign aid target by a year as part of its 2012 Federal Budget, but has announced a raft of new measures to monitor the effectiveness of Australia’s aid programs. The…
On 29 March, the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will meet in New Delhi for their fourth annual summit. Representing 40% of the global population, 25% of global GDP, and…
The United Nations is set to vote on recognising Palestine as an independent state next month. What the chances of the Palestinian initiative succeeding? What implications would recognition of Palestinian…
Kate Taylor, The University of Melbourne and Rob Moodie, The University of Melbourne
Ever since the global financial crisis, “value for money” has become the slogan of choice for international aid. The Americans have been in the lead, changing the rhetoric and practice of how they give…