Dear Rebecca, Crap!!

Rebecca: No right minded individual, etc.

A pull at the heart strings that is designed to make you feel bad like a social outcast if you don't agree. Here's a box of tissues Rebecca, better have a carton of tissues, the bleeding heart brigade will be needing 'em.

Rebecca: People who flee their host countries for Australia, etc.

As above 'n Double. They cross over multiple suitable Muslim Countries to get here. According to the UN Charter they cease to be Asylum Seekers once they have crossed multiple Boarders. They are shopping for the best economic deal & Australia is the sucker Country.

Rebecca: The purpose of Australian aid is to help people overcome poverty, says the Australian Government's aid policy. etc.

That is the stated purpose; unfortunately it doesn't & has never worked like that. I know that from personal experience. My bet is that your experience comes from bleeding heart groups in Uni. See.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM

Rebecca: Australia's 2011-2012 budget recognises that reducing poverty is in our 'national security and national economic interest'. It recognises that 'poverty breeds instability and extremism in our region and globally', and 'creates conditions that lead to more refugees, etc. Most of the Aid money ends up in the hands of the CEO's of the Charities & in the hands of the local Militias Leader anyway.

Saving these people only leads them to bread more & in 10 years the problem doubles. The ones that were saved by Bob Gedoff's effort are now the ones that are the Terrorists & Pirates in the region. We created that problem. Question. How much Food Aid is given to the Horn of Africa by the Oil Rich Nations around the Middle East? Zilch.
It is expected by the Islamic Countries that the West provide this Aid as the Yitzhak Tax that non-Muslims are expected to pay to Muslims to allow to be non-Muslim. It is considered by Muslims to be the West’s Duty to provide this Aid.

cont.

Rebecca: The proposed diversion of $375m from the foreign aid budget makes little sense economically,

Where it's going makes little sense. To the illegal Asylum Seekers? Excuse me!

Australia has many Homeless people, Our Health System is in disarray, The School System is a mess, The Disability problem is appalling, and The Aboriginal problem need much more help. Australia's Transport infrastructure is 3rd. World. That $375 million wouldn't even touch the sides of fixing Australia's own problems if that money was spread around those areas. More & more of Australia's Budget (our Taxes) is being siphoned off to support, what amounts to be criminals.

A moratorium needs to be held on the $4.7 Billion we send out of this Country by the Government. Let the Private Charity Groups provide any Aid they want to these people, but not the Government. Charity begins at home. It starts with us. We cannot help anyone else if we are in no position to help ourselves.

Foreign aid money being used on boat people, and why should it not be.
That is foreign aid, it is spent on assistance for foreign people.
There should be far more foreign aid spent here, why don't we get foreign aid money from world bank. We are supporting foreign aid, but have to pay for it ourselves.

I could not agree with JAYB more, ALL of the ILL's in our country AUSTRALIA need to be fixed long before ONE CENT is sent out of this country.

Just for the record Rebecca, pray tell us if it is OK for Save the Children, & other such organisations, to divert aid money, government or private donation, to pay policy & advocacy advisors, & other hangers on.

After seeing the salaries of some people involved if foreign aid work, I'm more interested is seeing another $375 million redirected to our own pensioner support.

Perhaps you could join us & advocate more of our money staying right here at home.

Jayb

That's a great video.

I also highly recommend the book Mr. Sirolli mentions.

See:

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Aid-Working-Better-Africa/dp/0374532125

(I had read it previously)

I have personally seen the damage aid does to Africa.

I think the best aid is no aid. In fact I think aid should be considered a crime against humanity.