Labor scams list grow longer
Piers Akerman – Sydney Telegraph - Wednesday, December 19, 2012
IN A move that only a
slush fund operator could truly appreciate, the Gillard government has made itself the THIRD largest recipient of its own foreign aid
program.
This shabby minority Labor-Green-Independent government, well-used to redefining words, has now declared that foreign aid which was spent in foreign places can now be spent on foreigners in Australia.
This sleight of hand makes Australia the third largest recipient of its own foreign aid program after Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The rort is intended to camouflage Labor’s failed Budget and busted border protection policy.
As deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop said yesterday:
“This massive cut to foreign aid and overseas development assistance shows that the budget is in crisis. The Government’s border protection failures are now spreading throughout the Government and Bob Carr tried to sneak this news out just before Christmas and he’s been caught out. People smugglers now have more control over Labor’s budget than the Gillard Government does. Bob Carr’s excuses and spin cannot disguise the fact that this funding is for overseas development. It is not being spent overseas and it is not being spent on development.
“... this sends a very bad message for the beginning of Australia’s two year stint on the United Nations Security Council. It was a key plank of the Government’s campaign to win a seat that they would be increasing the foreign aid budget to 0.5 per cent of GNI. In fact they have misled countries into voting for them with this deceitful attempt to redirect the foreign aid budget. The Australian people have learnt that they can’t trust Julia Gillard’s word, now people around the world cannot rely on her word. We now know that the Government has made over 150 promises to restore the budget to surplus but this act of cutting the foreign aid budget is sheer desperation. So until we see the state of the accounts we won’t know the budget, but one thing we can be assured of and that is the Coalition will stop the boats. So we won’t need to be diverting foreign aid monies - that is meant to be for development of poor countries - we won’t need to divert that money to border protection failures because we will stop the boats.” There can be no more excuses for Foreign Minister Bob Carr, she said.
“His weasel words have caught up with him. This is a direct attempt to take money away from developing countries overseas to make up for their border protection failings. The budget for border protection has already blown out by over $6.5 billion and the Government is now in crisis, its budget figures are untrustworthy and until we see the final state of the accounts no-one in Australia will know how much money there really is to be spent on hospitals, schools and the like.” Bishop said billions of dollars has been wasted on their border protection failings.
Billions have been wasted on pink batts, overpriced school halls and cash giveaways. She said that according to the OECD foreign aid funding is for economic development and the well being of poor countries.
The government’s fiddle sends a very bad message to the rest of the world just when Australia is about to commence a two year stint on the UN Security Council, based on promises that they would increase the aid budget.
Charity World Vision claimed 200,000 people could die because of Labor’s decision to divert the money from the foreign aid budget, even as a member of the so-called expert Houston Panel forecast as many as 30,000 asylum seekers could be expected in 2013.
About 16,800 arrived in 2012 at a cost of more than $1.3 billion. The forecast numbers could cost in excess of $4.9 billion.
Keeping an illegal boat passenger on Nauru costs $328,500 a year.
The Gillard farce continues . . .
This shabby minority Labor-Green-Independent government, well-used to redefining words, has now declared that foreign aid which was spent in foreign places can now be spent on foreigners in Australia.
This sleight of hand makes Australia the third largest recipient of its own foreign aid program after Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The rort is intended to camouflage Labor’s failed Budget and busted border protection policy.
As deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop said yesterday:
“This massive cut to foreign aid and overseas development assistance shows that the budget is in crisis. The Government’s border protection failures are now spreading throughout the Government and Bob Carr tried to sneak this news out just before Christmas and he’s been caught out. People smugglers now have more control over Labor’s budget than the Gillard Government does. Bob Carr’s excuses and spin cannot disguise the fact that this funding is for overseas development. It is not being spent overseas and it is not being spent on development.
“... this sends a very bad message for the beginning of Australia’s two year stint on the United Nations Security Council. It was a key plank of the Government’s campaign to win a seat that they would be increasing the foreign aid budget to 0.5 per cent of GNI. In fact they have misled countries into voting for them with this deceitful attempt to redirect the foreign aid budget. The Australian people have learnt that they can’t trust Julia Gillard’s word, now people around the world cannot rely on her word. We now know that the Government has made over 150 promises to restore the budget to surplus but this act of cutting the foreign aid budget is sheer desperation. So until we see the state of the accounts we won’t know the budget, but one thing we can be assured of and that is the Coalition will stop the boats. So we won’t need to be diverting foreign aid monies - that is meant to be for development of poor countries - we won’t need to divert that money to border protection failures because we will stop the boats.” There can be no more excuses for Foreign Minister Bob Carr, she said.
“His weasel words have caught up with him. This is a direct attempt to take money away from developing countries overseas to make up for their border protection failings. The budget for border protection has already blown out by over $6.5 billion and the Government is now in crisis, its budget figures are untrustworthy and until we see the final state of the accounts no-one in Australia will know how much money there really is to be spent on hospitals, schools and the like.” Bishop said billions of dollars has been wasted on their border protection failings.
Billions have been wasted on pink batts, overpriced school halls and cash giveaways. She said that according to the OECD foreign aid funding is for economic development and the well being of poor countries.
The government’s fiddle sends a very bad message to the rest of the world just when Australia is about to commence a two year stint on the UN Security Council, based on promises that they would increase the aid budget.
Charity World Vision claimed 200,000 people could die because of Labor’s decision to divert the money from the foreign aid budget, even as a member of the so-called expert Houston Panel forecast as many as 30,000 asylum seekers could be expected in 2013.
About 16,800 arrived in 2012 at a cost of more than $1.3 billion. The forecast numbers could cost in excess of $4.9 billion.
Keeping an illegal boat passenger on Nauru costs $328,500 a year.
The Gillard farce continues . . .
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