Earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia faces “its most difficult and dangerous security environment” since the second world war. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has made similar comments.
In 1949, shortly after the war, Australia invested 9% of the federal budget in development and diplomacy. If you applied that proportion today, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would be more than seven times its current size.
In this week’s budget DFAT’s resourcing has gone backwards, with a small increase of A$124 million or 1.6% that is less than indexation. Funding for aid has increased but this is balanced by cuts to other parts of the portfolio, including diplomacy.
