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China

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
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Melbourne
Since gaining independence New Guinea have relied on aid from Australia, unfortunately aid got slashed by the Abbott government, surprise surprise, the door has been left open for China.
It's a difficult one, because how Australian aid has been spent has been be open to question.
70% of PNG's foreign aid comes from Australia. Their health system would collapse without it. Do they not remember the Japanese occupation?
 

tigerman

It's Tiger Time
Mar 17, 2003
24,150
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The cut in aid to PNG was less than a 5% cut and aid has since been increased to in excess of $100M/year over what was previously given.
China doesn't give them anywhere near that but they've promised to buy some of PNG's debt in exchange for various favours.
Was that 5% in one year? I remember a big brouhaha when Abbott and treasurer Hockey slashed $4 or 5 billion from foreign aid.
 

Althom

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Jul 23, 2016
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Was that 5% in one year? I remember a big brouhaha when Abbott and treasurer Hockey slashed $4 or 5 billion from foreign aid.
Yep, all in 2015/16..
Indonesia got cut by 40% and a lot of programmes in Africa got cut all together.
The actual overall reduction was slightly less than $1B taking the overall budget for 2015/16 to just over $4B.
It's stayed at about that level since with more of it being focussed on the Asia Pacific region which is where our focus should be.
 
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Althom

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Jul 23, 2016
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China is buying up African nations in the same way as PNG. We can't compete there without spending disproportionately.
Having spent about half my working life in various African nations I can confirm this but I can also confirm that many of those nations are now regretting it and trying to cut or at least reduce their ties.
As for Australian Foreign Aid to Africa it should only be to nations in which we've had a direct influence. Otherwise the weight should fall on ex Colonial powers.
i.e. We were party to the debacle of putting Mugabe in power in Zim so we're party to the economic destruction and genocide he visited on that country. Therefore we owe them recompense.
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Some of us have been pointing out for a long time that foreign aid is a form of soft power that Australia needs to use. If we don't, countries like China will take our place and make things worse for these countries, even if they do provide infrastructure and other things that assist economic development.
 
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Althom

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Jul 23, 2016
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Some of us have been pointing out for a long time that foreign aid is a form of soft power that Australia needs to use. If we don't, countries like China will take our place and make things worse for these countries, even if they do provide infrastructure and other things that assist economic development.
Most definitely but as we are currently seeing with PNG even though we're the biggest donor to them, by far, they've still signed up with the Chinese.
 
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AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Most definitely but as we are currently seeing with PNG even though we're the biggest donor to them, by far, they've still signed up with the Chinese.

Yeah, I guess if the Chinese throw money at you you are going to take it, exactly as happens in Australia. China will be doing direct investment as well as aid. There is no law against any country taking aid/investment from a range of sources.
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
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Melbourne
Yeah, I guess if the Chinese throw money at you you are going to take it, exactly as happens in Australia. China will be doing direct investment as well as aid. There is no law against any country taking aid/investment from a range of sources.
No law against saying you're on your own if the hand that feeds is bitten.
 
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Althom

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Jul 23, 2016
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Yeah, I guess if the Chinese throw money at you you are going to take it, exactly as happens in Australia. China will be doing direct investment as well as aid. There is no law against any country taking aid/investment from a range of sources.
Yep, we haven't exactly knocked them back on much but we're not dependent on aid.
PNG, as a courtesy, could have kept us apprised.
Going to be interesting with a RAN/USN base on Manus and a CCP Navy base at Daru.
 

AngryAnt

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Nov 25, 2004
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Yep, we haven't exactly knocked them back on much but we're not dependent on aid.
PNG, as a courtesy, could have kept us apprised.
Going to be interesting with a RAN/USN base on Manus and a CCP Navy base at Daru.

Did they not inform us? And what would we have done if they did tell us?
 
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Nico

You psychopathological reactionary!
Jul 1, 2004
2,274
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Melbourne
Well I had a small win against the CCP's soft diplomacy today.

My kids attend a government primary school in Melbourne in which learning Mandarin is compulsory.

Due to the bastardtry of the CCP, my partner and I have strongly objected to our kids being forced to learn the language of this evil regime.

After 12 months of campaigning to the school and Education Dept, my kids are now exempt from learning Mandarin as of next year. They are going to learn French at the Victorian School of Languages. Took us threatening to go to the Ombudsman and Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to get the result.

Apart from the political side of things, the number of students who continue on with Mandarin into secondary school is miniscule. The local high schools don't teach Mandarin, just French, as do the myriad of private schools in the area. As I said to the Principal, I thought primary schools were supposed to prepare students for secondary school.

The BS the school came up with was unbelievable. First of all, we were told we could leave the school, and that we were racist. Then nonsense like We have a sister school arrangement with a school in Nanjing....we need to retain that. When pressed to what programs they have with this sister school, there were crickets. We engage in cultural exchange. They send 10 students a year there, and that's all they do. Do you realise that China has arbitrary detention and it's extremely irresponsible to send staff and students to a country with arbitrary detention? Once again crickets.

The clincher was noise cancelling headphones. We knew they would say that if they don't attend Mandarin classes, the school doesn't have the resources to supervise our kids. We retorted by saying that our kids will sit at the back of the Mandarin class, with noise cancelling headphones, and study French. Crickets again, and checkmate.

We were told basically not to tell anyone, but the sight of a couple of kids skipping Mandarin lessons and sitting up the back with headphones will elicit great jealousy amongst the other students.

Anyway, a small but satisfying victory.
 
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Giardiasis

Tiger Legend
Apr 20, 2009
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Some of us have been pointing out for a long time that foreign aid is a form of soft power that Australia needs to use. If we don't, countries like China will take our place and make things worse for these countries, even if they do provide infrastructure and other things that assist economic development.
Geez you sound like a neo-conservative! Foreign aid to advance Australian hegemony lol
 

AngryAnt

Tiger Legend
Nov 25, 2004
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Geez you sound like a neo-conservative! Foreign aid to advance Australian hegemony lol

No, lefties have always promoted aid as a way to influence neighbours and take a strategic position in the region. That's neither a left nor right position.

It's pretty funny that some of the same folks getting butthurt about China muscling in are the ones who are anti-foreign aid to start with.
 

Sintiger

Tiger Legend
Aug 11, 2010
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Camberwell
China biting off their nose to spite their face.

Lucky they don't have to face an election

If we cut off iron ore supplies that would really hurt them but it would hurt us as well , badly
 

Althom

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Jul 23, 2016
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