The Wire

New figures from the OECD show that Australia’s foreign aid contributions are lagging behind that of many other developed countries. Australia allocates just 0.29 percent of our Gross National Income for aid to poor countries – a far cry from the 0.7 percent recommended by the UN. Australia ranks 16 out of the 23 countries in the index, and while our aid expenditure is set to increase, the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, Bob McMullen has conceded that Australia’s aid spending is still comparatively low. Michelle Loh spoke to Marc Purcell from the Australian Council for International Development.