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Minister for International Development Zed Seselja,pictured with Foreign Minister Marise Payne,said Australia was delivering record development assistance to the Pacific.Credit:Getty Images

The federal government also announced in Tuesday’s budget it will almost double the number of refugees to be resettled from Afghanistan over the next four years.

The allocation of an extra 16,500 refugee visas for Afghan nationals will delight asylum seeker advocates who have been pleading with the government to expand its humanitarian program following the Taliban’s return to power last year and a subsequent collapse in Afghanistan’s economy.

The budget papers show total expenses for foreign affairs and economic aid will decrease by 3.2 per cent in real terms over the next year and plummet by 19 per cent over the following three years to 2026.

The spending on foreign aid fluctuates significantly year-on-year over the budget forward estimates but will remain flat in nominal terms over the next four years.

Australia is projected to spend $3.76 billion on foreign aid in the 2025 financial year,barely unchanged from the $3.77 billion allocated in the current financial year.

Spending on diplomacy will decline from $1.33 billion this year to $1.25 billion in 2025-26.

The government will increase infrastructure spending in the Pacific by $3.5 billion,including improvements to Papua New Guinea’s road network and electricity distribution grid.

The budget also includes $324 million in new spending over the next two years to help Pacific nations and Timor-Leste recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,including on testing capacity,vaccine delivery and food security.

The government will also spend $65 million on a new High Commission chancery in the Solomon Islands.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja said the government was delivering a record $1.85 billion in overseas development assistance to the Pacific this year.

“We will continue to support the sovereignty and resilience of our region,” Senator Seselja said.

“Australia is the Pacific’s largest development partner,security partner of choice,and most importantly,we are family.”

The provision of an extra 16,500 refugee places for Afghan nationals under the humanitarian resettlement program will bring the total number of places available for Afghans to 31,500 over the next four years.

An extra 2000 places will also be allocated to refugees fleeing from Myanmar.

The overall refugee intake will remain capped at an annual intake of 13,750 people.

Jacqueline Maley cuts through the noise of the federal election campaign with news,views and expert analysis.Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.

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