Senate debates

Thursday, 13 May 2021

Questions without Notice

Budget

3:56 pm

Photo of Zed SeseljaZed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I can, and in doing so we reject Labor's lazy approach to our engagement in the region. What those opposite don't understand is that Australia's partnership with Pacific nations extends far beyond the record ODA budget in the Pacific. Labor seems to believe that bilateral ODA remains the only way in which Australia addresses shared challenges in our region. By contrast, this government is using a range of economic tools to support economic stability and grow jobs in our region. We're providing bilateral loans to our most important near neighbours, PNG and Indonesia, at a crucial moment in their COVID-19 response efforts. The loan to Indonesia is part of our biggest package of economic support to South-East Asia since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. This government has established the $2 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, which is helping to deliver strategically significant projects, such as the Palau ICT cable project— (Time expired)

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