Twice this week the federal Coalition has sought to make political capital from the government’s commitment to the loss and damage fund agreed at COP27.
On Monday Liberal Leader Peter Dutton said Labor would “send money overseas” and asked the prime minister: “When will you start helping Australian families instead of giving away their money? Doesn’t charity begin at home?”
Yesterday Alex Hawke asked Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen: “At a time when Australian families are being hit by Labor’s price hikes in electricity and gas, why on earth did this government sign up to a new United Nations fund which will channel Australian taxpayers’ money to other countries, including China?”
The undesirability of wasting taxpayer money on foreigners is a clear change in the Dutton-led Coalition; under Scott Morrison, the Coalition boasted of the $4 billion it was channelling to other countries, including India and South-East Asia. Under Dutton, it seems, charity will now begin at home, despite, as Marise Payne and Dan Tehan said last year: “A region that is healthy, prosperous and stable is ultimately good for the Australian people, their security and their living standards.”
Sadly, Hawke was left with egg on his face when Bowen explained to him that China would not be a recipient, nor would other countries that had experienced strong development since the 1990s, and in fact might become a contributor.
Having announced that it was his first question in a decade, Hawke might want to take another decade before his next — especially if the Coalition tactics committee is going to drop him in it like that.
The Coalition’s switch to xenophobia on foreign aid is a particularly sharp correction on climate funding. Back in 2019, Morrison promised $500 million in additional climate aid to Pacific countries to head off criticism by them of his climate denialism. The package “highlights our commitment to not just meeting our emissions reduction obligations at home but supporting our neighbours and friends”.
In December 2020, that $500 million was expanded to $1.5 billion, and the Coalition government told the UN that Australia “recognises developing countries’ calls for a stronger focus on financing for adaptation and resilience, and for an increased share of finance flowing to small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDC). Australia has performed strongly on both these measures in recent years with 70% of our bilateral, regional and global climate financing going towards adaptation efforts and two thirds of our bilateral, regional and global climate finance benefiting SIDS and LDCs.”
By the time Morrison attended COP26, that had grown to $2 billion in money “given away”.
And lest the Dutton-era Coalition plead that that was all just for our “neighbours and friends” in the Pacific rather than foreigners elsewhere in the world, let’s not forget Tony Abbott agreed to hand $200 million to the “Green Climate Fund” in 2015. The Green Climate Fund was established at COP15 back in 2009.
What was one of the projects in the Green Climate Fund that Abbott channelled Australian taxpayers’ money to? Why, the Shandong Green Development Fund in China.
Perhaps the Coalition should be explaining why it sent money overseas to China for a UN fund instead. Charity begins at home, after all.
Are we sending too much aid money overseas, or not enough? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
