I believe that this is errant nonsense, put about by someone, who very obviously knows B'all about the new front bench!?
Take new resource Minister Gary Gray as an example; former oil company executive and highly accredited economist!
Clearly not the L plate dunce the author, in my view, mischievously and vexatiously claims?
Others have already performed very competently as ministerial secretaries and so forth, and might even consider such ignorant statements as libellous?
If however, the author has any actual evidence of "L plate" incompetence, now might be a good time to disclose; or, in other words, put up or shut up!?
Moreover, most of the front bench remains; but, with expanded portfolios and additional ministerial secretaries assisting.
A very wise man once remarked, if you are going to tell a lie, make sure it's a great big whopper.
So big in fact, very few would believe anyone would have the temerity to tell such a huge porky, and therefore, all but compel belief.
And various members of the highly opinionated media, have a rep for never ever allowing the facts to get in the way of a good story or opinion piece.
[No names, no pack drill. All white?]
Perhaps if the author bothered to validate the facts, this piece of patent political propaganda, wouldn't have seen the light of day?
Rhrosty.

What do Bob Carr and Julia Gillard have in common? An amazing capacity for incompetence.

Julia, with her background in unions and conveyancing, has been given a position which is far, far beyond her. Bob Carr, with his amateurish interest in history and long association with the rotting corpse of NSW LABOR has made a fool of himself on the world stage on numerous occasions thus far.

And why is Julia putting off the looming election, forcing us to put up with her for even longer? Answer: She can't bear to accept that she is a failure and so is her feeble Government.

She is destroying the LABOR Party for no other reason than her own conceit and love of power! She could save a bit of face if she brought the election forward or resigned now! Will she?

No way!

Teresa--Seeing that your lot look like being in power shortly, here are a few tips on how to get people to engage with your stuff. Firstly when you speak of someone loathing a colleague this is a turn off for me as is the reference to arrogance. Secondly,the piece is then so likely to be partisan that is is not worth reading. Perhaps we could start again. Cheers.

Better idea, reduce the foreign aid budget by 5.i billion, then it won’t matter who runs the rubbish.

<< Richard Marles' hands on approach was a very necessary foil to the arrogant, pontificating approach of Bob Carr who in one of his first acts as Australia's new Minister for Foreign Affairs threatened Papua New Guinea (PNG) with sanctions and to organise world condemnation and isolation in relation to that country's elections - cowboy antics from an egotist. >>

Hold on there Theresa. Why don’t you put the strongest negative interpretation this that you possibly can!

Could it possibly be that Bob Carr was simply saying some home truths about the PNG elections, which have followed many very softly-softly pussy-footed comments from others in Australian politics over the years, to no avail?

Could it be that a fundamental part of our huge aid support deal for PNG should be the requirement for them to have totally free and fair elections, in the interests of getting the best possible standard of politics and governance for their people?

Crikey, I get the very strong feeling that if Carr had said anything, no matter how gently, you would have still totally lambasted him.

Home truths need to be stated now and then.

I reckon the opposite criticism is much more valid. That is; that Australia has not done enough to work with PNG to get their political paradigm on track…. and that we could therefore be criticised of being complicit…. and that Carr should have been commended for letting it be known that this situation needs to change.

The usual partisan babbling that we've come to expect from politicians of all stripes. Still, a step up from Ms Gambaro's usual schtick of telling migrants to wear deodorant I suppose.

Please, do tell us, in detail, what specific changes you would make to Australia's foreign aid program if your party were to form government?

Teresa. Whilst I am ambivalent regarding the issue of political bias in the MSM, it being a mechanism for 'keeping up with' the thinking and direction of 'the other side', I think you have chosen the wrong publisher in submitting your piece in OLO.

OLO is a forum to espouse ideas and philosophies with a view of using persuasion, evidence and nuanced argument to bring others over to your view. As Rhrosty observes, your arrant, tiresome and obvious bias encorages those 'from the other side' to not read past your opening paragraph, reference Stephenroger for example. Poof... There goes your opportunity.

Now, to the subject matter, your argument falls over immediately when not acknowledging Gary Grey for example, hardly and L plater in his portfolio.

Perhaps, as Ludwig comments, speaking some 'home truths' would be a little more productive vis a vis PNG and the Solomons. After all, we have been 'assisting' these countries for decades, without apparent progress.

In the final analysis I tend to agree, once again, with Hasbeen. Scrap all foreign aid $ and use the Chinese approach, it does appear to work wonders with national development, poverty amelioration and is also quite good for Chinese interests as well, talk about free market pragmatism... From a communist country? Whoda thunk it?

<< Please, do tell us, in detail, what specific changes you would make to Australia's foreign aid program if your party were to form government? >>

A good question, JBSH.

I feel further to my previous comments that Teresa’s criticism is a tad duplicitous unless she can demonstrate that her party would do a much better job when in government.

She writes:

< What Australia's foreign aid program so sorely needs is a revitalised focus on our own region, a clearly articulated focus on medical research targeting disease and a effective plan to engage the business sector in driving economic development as a primary lever to achieve positive aid outcomes >

But she doesn’t give any indication that a Coalition government would do this.

I’d also question her primary motives for giving this aid. It shouldn’t be about continuously striving to increase economic growth, it should be about the achievement of sustainable societies, which fundamentally means growing the economies AND stabilising the populations of aid-recipient countries.

In fact, the terrible omission of anything to do with population stabilisation in our aid programs completely undermines our supposed goals of improving the quality of life of people in these countries and doing ourselves out of the aid ‘business’.

Cambaro: Foreign aid is not effective unless is produces tangible results on the ground.

Foreign Aid never has. Foreign Aid is a feel good for Governments. (Look what we are doing)& a photo or Video News Event. The little people on the ground, the ones it's supposed to help get very little of the end product. (from experience) Most goes to pay off CEO's, Government officials, Local Officials, the local Head Man in the Area. The Local Militia & the Transport owner. Not much left after that but it's good for a photo.

Cambaro: Australian taxpayers have a right to demand something better than L-plate stewardship of our $5.2 billion foreign aid program.

Yes it does, but it doesn't. A better idea would be to cut Foreign Aid to Material Help on the ground. Not Cash. $5.2 billion would be better spent repairing Australia’s neglected Infrastructure. We can’t help others if we can’t help ourselves & we aren’t. Our Schools, Hospital, Water Resources, Roads, Bridges, Rail would be a disgrace in a 3rd. World Country.

Cambaro: Our place as a nation on the world stage.

Now that a look at us attitude & really no one cares. No one overseas knows what Australia does & they don’t care either.

Cambaro: as a good neighbour in our own region demands that we get this right.

Yes it does. So why are we giving Aid to Countries that we know are ripping off the Aid. We should only be giving Aid when it’s needed for Disasters & then only Material Aid which we take back when it’s no longer needed. Eg, Generators, Tarps, etc.

Facts are:
1. A majority of Australia's foreign aid does not leave Australia. Note:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/phantom-aid-never-leaves-our-shores/2007/05/27/1180205079584.html

2. Aid in cash does not reach the actual people. Island people require fuel to travel by canoe with outboard’s that guzzle fuel nearly double the cost of in Australia.

3. Real aid should include some cash for bottom of economy people to allow trade to develop instead of declining. Pacific Islands people have recently lost their abundant available staple seafood supply and subsistence-type employment that kept many youth and other people busy. Now increasing numbers of people are bored, irritated by hunger, many unknowingly suffer malnutrition. Food shortage leads to argument including domestic violence.

4. Australian ABC media blames overfishing for fish devastation while in reality evidence of substance indicates beyond doubt unprecedented sewage nutrient loads are feeding algae this is killing seagrass food web nurseries. There is malnutrition in marine animals and seafood dependent people, death too. There have been seven dead whales on Fraser Island in a recent 2 year period, more elsewhere. http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/beached-whale-calf-one-seven/1458287/

5. Millennium Development Goals are talked about but not achieved, in reality some are going backwards. To achieve several MDG’s, real aid should provide bigger rural village populations with even an old tractor, plough and some fuel. If village small scale farming produced feed for chickens an alternative source of essential daily protein and some employment and trade could result almost immediately. Meanwhile: http://www.spc.int/en/employment/1074-getting-to-the-point-on-pacific-tuna-fisheries.html

6. Truth needs to be told. Aid money is being wasted on consultants about everything including CO2 nonsense involving radical claims of unsubstantiated sea level rise, when in fact a vast area of SW Pacific Ocean seabed has sunk down. Major media has not reported the estimated 800-850mm sinking down of New Georgia Island in 2007 when the earthquake lifted`` Ranogga up 3 metres. Algae is also killing coral. Coral atolls must have coral. Truth and real aid is needed for effective solutions.

7. Aid has not been effective because of relevant BS and gagging especially by ABC bigots or whatever. Politicians and bureaucrats need real information to apply real aid