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.
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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.