Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr. Can the minister update the Senate on any plans to reinvigorate the Colombo Plan?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Colombo Plan brought 20,000 scholars from Asia to study in Australia during the fifties, sixties and seventies. It was a good product for its time. Colombo Plan scholarships to Australia ceased in 1985 when the full fee paying international students were able to come here. But if the same scholarship program existed today—that is, the Colombo Plan—it would represent about half of one per cent of all international students studying in Australia. Those longing for a return to the days of the Colombo Plan are failing to recognise things have changed. Between 1951 and 1986, Australia provided 20,000 scholarships under the Colombo Plan. Under the Australia Awards, we provide that every four years. We award 5,000 scholarships and fellowships each year to people from over 100 countries—10 times the number of awards provided by the Colombo Plan.

Australia Awards are more flexible, allowing for both formal study and professional development opportunities. It is not all one-way traffic—Australian students benefit from scholarships to study overseas. Like the Colombo Plan, the majority of Australia Awards are offered in Australia at Australian institutions for students from around the world. In fact, the Senate would be interested to know that the number of Australia Awards will increase from 5,000 to 6,000 in 2014. The Colombo Plan was a good product for its time but is vastly overtaken by the Australia Awards in scale, in quality, in flexibility and in benefit to the recipients, and indirectly of course in benefit to the country that provides them, our country, Australia. (Time expired)

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister further advise the Senate on how the Australia Awards are better than the Colombo Plan?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australia Awards are uniquely identified with Australia. Students under the Australia Awards are studying in fields critical to their countries' futures. For example, scholarships for Myanmar specifically support health, education and rural development—three areas critical for Myanmar's future prosperity. Women received almost 50 per cent of all long-term awards, demonstrating our continuing commitment to improving the lives of women by opening opportunities to education. The percentage of scholars successfully completing their awards and taking their skills home has been consistently above 95 per cent over the last decade. We are offering opportunities for more and more fields of study—at present, 12 per cent study in health; seven per cent in engineering related technologies; 13 per cent in agriculture; seven per cent in education— (Time expired)

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister advise of any particularly influential Australia Awards alumni that you may have met since becoming foreign minister?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The senator ought to be congratulated on such a percipient question. Australia Awards alumni include students from as far back as the Colombo Plan, people like Vice President Boediono of Indonesia. You might recall that I recently had the honour of acknowledging the presence in this chamber of the Prime Minister of—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speak up, I can't hear you—the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, the Hon. Gordon Darcy Lillo, an Australia Awards alumnus who studied under an AusAID funded scholarship at the—

Opposition senators interjecting—

I can't hear you, speak up—at the Australian National University. My good friend, Marty Natalegawa, the Indonesian foreign minister, is also an Australia Awards alumnus. Other Australia Awards alumni include the Minister of Health in Vietnam, the Chief Ombudsman of PNG, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and the ministers of health, education and infrastructure in East Timor. (Time expired)