Bob McMullan (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance) Share this | Hansard source

That is very hard to respond to. I am actually sympathetic to the member’s frustration, but it is a change that was initiated before this government came to office. That is not a criticism of the previous government; I think they were probably right in initiating that change, but the transition is difficult. If I were in his position, I would be frustrated as well. But, on the broader question of the Prime Minister’s diplomatic initiatives and the public and international response to them, of course there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge. These are all initiatives that will take some time to come to fruition—that is, other than the partnerships, which are proceeding quickly. They have a shorter timetable. They will not be concluded quickly, but some of them are underway now and we will be a long way towards concluding the first two by August.

So far, in my experience in representing Australia by meeting people both here and overseas, the initiatives have been well received. They have been seen as positive. It is up to us, of course, to be good enough to process them, whether they are the initiatives with regard to Mr Woolcott’s special envoy proposal, Mr Evans’s role with respect to nuclear disarmament or our Security Council bid. All of those so far have been well received and are proceeding—at this very, very early stage of all of them—well. But there will be judgements to be made over the years as they unfold and as resources are applied. At the very least, I can assure the member that the basis for judgement with regard to methodology, ASL and various things will be capable of being assessed in future years because the transition has been made. Of course, as I said, there are other tables in the budget papers that do compare like with like with regard to agency ASL. They do show the numbers that I indicated before with regard to the department proper and the various agencies of the department.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Remainder of bill—by leave—taken as a whole, and agreed to.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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