Senate debates Bills
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2015; In Committee
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania, Australian Greens
6:01 pm
Would the minister clarify the interface between trade and aid, not specifically the aid-for-trade program that the government has embarked on but whether with the commercial activities of this bank, or, let's say, its quasi-commercial activities given it is going to have a broader investment mandate—there will be social capital and other things involved, no doubt—there is a risk that the aims of this bank and the actual on-ground activities and financing will be a replacement for direct foreign aid to these regions.
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