This policy report card is based on the policies the Make Poverty History coalition believes should be adopted to improve Australia’s aid program, help reduce global poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The full list of Make Poverty History policies is available here.
This year Make Poverty History is calling for action in five areas:
- Do our fair share for the Millennium Development Goals – accelerate growth in the aid program and commit to 0.7% of GNI to aid
- Further improve the focus and quality of Australia’s aid and do our share to meet the MDGS
- Take a leadership position in the global fight against climate change
- Ensure food for all
- Provide greater global leadership in development negotiations.
All together there are 30 commitments we would like an Australian government to take. For the sake of simplicity, and ease of reading, 12 of the most urgent and measurable of these commitments have been selected for the policy report card. These appear below. Make Poverty History summarise the stated positions and recent record of each of the major party groupings for each policy call. As additional policies are made public by each party we will update the table.
Make Poverty History Policy Call |
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| Set a timetable to lift aid to 0.7% of GNI. |
No – have committed so far to reach 0.5% by 2015 and try to do more “if the fiscal position improves”.
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Yes – have committed to reach 0.7% by 2012. Concerns that timetable may not be achievable. |
No – have committed so far to reach 0.5% by 2015 and 0.7% “when fiscal and economic circumstances permit”. |
| Increase funding for health to at least $1200 m a year and also increase the share of Australian aid going to the other key MDG sectors of food security, basic education, gender equality, sanitation, clean water and hygiene. |
No commitment yet made for $1200 m to health. The previous Coalition government had a relatively poor record of support for key MDG sectors, however recent statements reflect stronger support for the MDGs.
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Yes – commitment to lift health aid to at least $1200 m per year. Strong policy commitment to MDGs. |
No commitment yet made for $1200 m to health. Strong policy commitment to MDGs, increased funding to areas such as education, health and sanitation, and much greater integration of the MDGs in AusAID programming over the last three years. |
| Ensure communities affected by Australian aid programs are actively involved in their planning and implementation |
No clear commitment to local community involvement. |
Yes strong policy commitment.
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Some support for this area but no clear commitment. |
| Provide Australia’s fair share of assistance, around 2% of the total required in line with our share of donor income, to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and to develop along a low-carbon path in line with the Copenhagen Accord. |
No commitment at this stage and the Coalition has announced $300m cuts to funding in this area. |
Yes strong policy commitment. |
Yes – Labor has announced fast start funding of A$599 m over three years which is almost Australia’s fair share of the total, however there is some concern whether this fully meets the agreed criteria of “new and additional funding”. |
| Ensure long term assistance for climate change is additional to ODA funding of 0.7%. |
No commitment to date. |
Yes strong policy commitment.
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No commitment to date, although Labor has stated it is committed to “providing its fair share of climate change funding”. |
| Play a lead role in the development of a comprehensive action plan and a timetable to lift support for the MDGs at the upcoming UN MDG review meeting in September, 2010. |
No statement on this as yet. |
No statement on this as yet, however strong commitment to significantly increase aid to the MDGs. |
Partial – Labor recently committed to the Port Vila Declaration to accelerate progress on the MDGs in the Pacific. They have also said they will “play an active role at the MDG Summit in September 2010 and in the events leading up to the summit” – however there are no specifics at this stage.
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| Establish AusAID as a separate department and create a cabinet level minister for international development. |
Partial – has announced a Minister for International Development to report to the Cabinet level Minister for Foreign Affairs, but would not be a Cabinet level Minister. No commitment as yet to establishing AusAID as a separate department. |
Yes, announced a Minister for International Development. However Cabinet level is not clear at this stage. Commitment to establishing AusAID as a separate department.
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No commitment to this as yet. Labor has had a strong parliamentary secretary for international development assistance and has recently increased the autonomy of AusAID by reclassifying it as an Executive Agency, reporting directly to a Cabinet level Minister – the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Improve the accountability of the aid program by providing easy to access, up-to-date information about all funded aid activities. |
Partial – improved openness towards end of last government and plans for increased aid effectiveness but no commitment to up-to-date activity information.
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Partial – no details on publishing aid activity data but strong statements on increasing transparency and the involvement of civil society in reviewing the aid program.
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Partial – has improved openness, consultation and review of the aid program, but no commitment to complete and up-to-date activity information. |
| Increase support for the most marginalised communities by increasing the share of the Australian aid program delivered through NGOs. |
No clear commitment at this stage to significantly increase the share of aid through NGOs. |
Yes – will increase to at least 10% of the aid program. |
Partial – there has been an increase in the share of the aid program to NGOs but no commitment at this stage to go further. There has also been considerable improvement in consultation and partnership with NGOs.
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| Double the proportion of Australia’s development assistance going to agriculture and rural development to around 14% and prioritise agricultural investment that supports small-holder farmers. |
No clear commitment at this stage. |
Yes. |
Partial – policy improvement and recent budget increases, but no specific increase in share committed. |
| Encourage rigorous consideration by the G20 of a Robin hood style international financial transactions tax (FTT) to help fund key international priorities and dampen speculation. |
No commitment. |
Yes. |
No commitment. |
| Promote and support an overall doubling of funding by donors at the three-year replenishment meetings of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in October, 2010. |
No significant action announced at this stage despite the short time frame and importance of early support to encourage others. |
Yes. |
No significant action announced at this stage despite the short time frame and importance of early support to encourage others. |
Download this scorecard:
2010 MPH Election Scorecard (64.5 KiB)Make Poverty History election scorecard for the 2010 Federal election
Make Poverty History do not support any particular political party, we provide this information as an aid to the public to help them determine which party will do the most to support international development.
Authorised by Marc Purcell, Australian Council for International Development, 14 Napier Close, Deakin ACT 2600
Published by Make Poverty History, 14 Napier Close, Deakin ACT 2600
