Compare Party Responses

3. Overseas aid

Will your Party confirm the current Government commitment to contribute 0.5% Gross National Income to international aid and development efforts by 2015? What timeline will it put in place to reach the internationally agreed target of 0.7% GNI?

• Family First supports the Government's initiative to contribute 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) to International aid.
• Family First supports calls from the Make Poverty History campaign that the Australian Government should join other OECD countries by committing to a timetable for overseas aid as a proportion of GNI of 0.7%.

Family First supports the Government's initiative to contribute 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) to international aid. In 2009, Australia contributed 0.29% of GNI to international aid - well below the OECD average of 0.48% and the UN target of 0.7%. In 2010, Australia ranked 16 out of 23 OECD countries for the amount of aid given as a proportion of our national income. Family First supports calls from the Make Poverty History campaign that the Australian Government should join other OECD countries by committing to a timetable for overseas aid as a proportion of GNI of 0.7%.

Yes we would and we would seek to get to 1.0% by 2020. We would want to be sure the aid was getting to where it is needed and not used to prop up bad governments.

• CDP acknowledges Australia’s foreign aid is below agreed international standards
• CDP supports an increase in foreign aid to reach at least 0.70% of GNI by 2015.
• CDP supports overseas aid to Christian organizations that cater for displaced Christians fleeing persecution.

Australia’s  overseas aid contributions is expected to reach 0.36% of GNI by 2010, which is well short of the millennium development goals of 0.50% of GNI by 2010 and of 0.70% by 2015.

The CDP particularly supports overseas aid to Christian organizations who cater for displaced Christians who have been fleeing persecution and found refuge in countries such as Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon and who are in need of food, shelter, education, health care facilities and legal documents.

As a philosophy, the DLP is committed to the development of both national and international aid. Timelines for reaching targets should always depend upon national affordability. We would be looking to set a firm target after reviewing the 2011 budget and forward estimates.

Disagree. We believe that Australia should ensure that our own citizens have proper education and welfare support as the first priority.

The Secular Party supports this aid commitment. Development aid is important but may be ineffective unless proper standards of governance are in place. Freedom of speech, human rights and the rule of law are preconditions for reducing corruption and limiting the squandering of aid resources. A further aspect of this is separation of religion from the institutions of state, for without this, it is unlikely these preconditions will be met. This is particularly the case in countries where Islam is constitutionally entrenched. Without secularism, many national development efforts will be tragically futile.

• Federal Labor remains committed to increasing official development assistance to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income by 2015-16.
• In the 2010-11 Federal Budget, total Australian official development assistance (ODA) is forecast to increase to $4.3 billion, up from $3.8 billion in 2009-10.
• Beyond 2015-16, as economic and fiscal conditions permit, Federal Labor will progressively increase Australia’s official development assistance until we reach 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income.

Federal Labor remains committed to increasing official development assistance to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income by 2015-16.

This will result in a substantial increase in the aid budget going forward. In the 2010-11 Federal Budget, total Australian official development assistance (ODA) is forecast to increase to $4.3 billion, up from $3.8 billion in 2009-10. Beyond 2015-16, as economic and fiscal conditions permit, Federal Labor will progressively increase Australia’s official development assistance until we reach 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income.

Australians are a generous people. They help out those in need. But they also have every right to expect that our aid dollars are used wisely and have a real impact on the lives of those less fortunate.

Significant progress has been made in reducing poverty since the international community committed to the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, but there is more work to be done.
Federal Labor has placed the Millennium Development Goals at the centre of Australia’s aid program, directing more funds to education, health and other basic services. We have made education a flagship of the aid program to give children in poorer countries a chance to go to school and improve their opportunity for a better life. We have also refocussed the program to improve the quality of Australia’s aid and to make it more accountable.

Our record on international development assistance stands in stark contrast to that of the Coalition. Throughout the former Coalition Government’s term of office, Australia’s contribution to foreign aid averaged only 0.27 per cent of Gross National Income, and hit a low of 0.25 per cent.

Right now, the Coalition’s only policy on foreign aid is a $300 million cut to the foreign aid budget, an action which seriously calls into question the Coalition’s commitment to assist the world’s poorest people.

• The Coalition is fully committed to The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and supports the target of 0.5% of national income in overseas development aid.
• A Coalition government will ensure that Australia’s foreign aid effort is focused on real priorities and is rigorously administered.  Unlike Labor, we will not fritter away the taxpayer-funded aid budget on frivolous activities such as the funding of consultants’ half-million dollar salaries.
• The Coalition supports the UN goal of 0.7% of ODA/GNI ratio as an international aspiration but does not agree with time-bound targets to reach this goal. If our fiscal position improves beyond 2015 we will re-examine our aid budget with a view to reaching the internationally agreed target of 0.7%.

In Government, the Coalition delivered seven consecutive real increases in Official Development Assistance (ODA), lifting our commitment to economic development and poverty alleviation by 62 per cent in real terms. 

Under the Coalition, Australian aid helped the world achieve the MDGs, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.  Our investment in a number of areas included a multi-year $600 million HIV/AIDS commitment, education, health, the environment and climate change closely align with MDG sectors.

• We strongly support the right of developing countries to economic development, which they are currently restricted from by foreign governments in the name of environmental agendas.
• The UN has put forward its 0.7% of GDP foreign aid goal a multitude of times for a multitude of different reasons – including helping developing countries adapt to climate change. The fact that the number has not changed despite the many different claimed causes leads us to conclude that this number is not based on any serious economic analysis and we have no reason to respect it.
• We believe that foreign aid is useful for emergency relief, but not for economic development as any economy built with foreign aid will depend on continued foreign aid.

As a new party based on sex, gender and personal liberty, we do not have policies developed yet on overseas aid or refugees.

The Greens support increasing Australia's overseas aid budget to the level agreed for developed nations – 0.7 percent of Gross National Income by 2015. We also propose that the next government should establish a new Ministry for Overseas Aid and International Development. The Hawke Government had a Minister for Trade and Overseas Development, but it was only in place for one term.

• The level of overseas aid provided by Australia should always be tied to our sovereign interests and economic prosperity.
• We should contribute as much as we can afford to help less privileged peoples.
• We should not be tied to international targets, but make our own decisions on such issues in a clear, open, and frank manner.

4. Refugees

The immigration debate is complex, involving the competing priorities of meeting our moral obligation to offer asylum to genuine refugees, while minimising vulnerability to people smuggling, and ensuring border protection. What measures will your Party take to balance these competing priorities?

• Family First recognises that genuine refugees need protection, but also that people smuggling is a particularly insidious business.
• Over 170 people have died at sea trying to reach Australia since recent policy changes made us a more attractive target for people smugglers. Australia needs to be made an unattractive target for people smugglers to reduce this suffering and needless death.
• Children and minorities suffering from intense religious persecution, including Christians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, should have their claims for refugee status dealt with swiftly.

Family First recognises that immigration is a complicated issue. Family First recognises that genuine refugees need protection, but also that people smuggling is a particularly insidious business. Over 170 people have died at sea trying to reach Australia since recent policy changes made us a more attractive target for people smugglers. Australia needs to be made an unattractive target for people smugglers to reduce this suffering and needless death. Part of the solution therefore involves off-shore processing, which is unappealing to many illegal immigrants who choose to enter Australia for purely economic reasons.

Family First supports rapid appraisal of those claiming refugee status to determine legitimacy. Minorities suffering from intense religious persecution, including Christians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran should be considered favourably. Further, as of 21 May 2010 there were 427 children in detention. Immediate steps must be taken to fast track the determination of these children's eligibility for residency.

We also keep in mind that only 30% of illegal immigrants come to Australia by boat. 70% of illegal immigrants come to Australia by plane. Less focus needs to be put on the method of arrival of illegal immigrants, and more focus needs to be placed on the fast determination of their claims.

We would demonstrate that illegal arrivals were not welcomed unless proof of imminent danger is established quickly. We will receive an orderlly influx of refugees pre-arranged before arriving in Australia. We will also favour Christian refugees from areas of persecution as we believe that people of like beliefs to most Australians will adapt to Australia better.

• Australia has a sovereign right to determine who may enter its borders.
• Australia should meet its international obligations to treat unauthorized arrivals humanely and expediently and CDP will support supervised release programs into the community.
• CDP will give priority to refugee applicants who are persecuted for their Christian faith.

CDP affirms that it is the sovereign right of any nation to determine who may enter its borders for temporary or permanent stay and that the operations of people smugglers should continue to be disrupted and frustrated.

CDP considers that Australia should continue to meet its international obligations to treat unauthorised arrivals humanely and expediently and consider any claims they make for refugee status. Persons who arrive illegally and make claims for protection that are proven false should be removed from Australia as soon as practicable. Mandatory detention should continue for all persons without authority to be in Australia, although provisions for supervised release into the community for families with children should be considered.

Australia should continue to be a world leader in being a generous haven for genuine refugees through internationally supervised and orderly refugee resettlement programs. Priority should be given to refugee applicants who are most likely to readily integrate into the Australian way of life, including those who are being persecuted for their Christian faith.

The DLP is committed to ensuring border protection for Australians and to ensuring genuine refugees are offered asylum from persecution in their own countries. We must stop the trafficking of vulnerable people and remove any incentive that might encourage people to put their lives at risk by embarking for Australia in small boats.

We oppose illegal immigration.

The Secular Party supports a compassionate refugee intake. We would seek to emphasise the relevance of the Australian Values Statement that applicants for residence visas are required to respect. These values include the equality of men and women and respect for the rule of law. It should be clear to refugees that this required respect for Australian law rather than any religious law such as sharia law.

• Federal Labor’s view is that strong border security and fair and decent asylum seeker policies are not incompatible.
• The Gillard Labor Government will work with our regional neighbours and with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to develop a regional processing centre for asylum seekers.
• Federal Labor will work towards an effective, sustainable, long term regional solution to deal with the challenge of irregular arrivals.

Since taking office, Federal Labor has implemented significant reforms to asylum and refugee policy. 

We have abolished the unjust Temporary Protection Visa regime, introduced fairer work rights arrangements for asylum seekers in the community and twice increased the size of Australia’s humanitarian program. 

Federal Labor abolished the ineffective system of imposing charges on immigration detainees and adopted a new values-based approach to immigration detention to ensure that detention policy reflects the values of Australia’s democracy. 

Fairer arrangements have also been introduced for asylum seekers on Christmas Island including independent review of decisions, access to migration advice, and oversight by the Immigration Ombudsman.

For too long, the asylum seeker policy debate has been polarised by extreme, emotionally-charged claims and a fundamental disrespect of people’s views that we must reject.

There is nothing humane about a voyage across dangerous seas with the ever present risk of death in leaky boats captained by people smugglers.

Australians are decent people and the Gillard Labor Government will not stand back and watch people drown in the water or see children detained behind razor wire.

The Gillard Labor Government will work with our regional neighbours and with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to develop a regional processing centre for asylum seekers.

We will take away the product that people smugglers are trying to sell.

The Refugee Council of Australia has said that Federal Labor’s plan is a positive step and Julia Gillard has spoken to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to reiterate Gillard Labor Government’s support for the development of a sustainable, effective regional protection framework.

• The Coalition is committed to policies on refugees which are sustainable, orderly and fair to those in desperate situations waiting in refugee camps around the world for asylum in Australia.  Coalition border protection policy is based on denying the people smugglers the ability to sell permanent residency to Australia.  Any policy that continues to provide an incentive to this business is neither consistent with Australians’ expectations of effective border control nor compassionate.
• A Coalition Government will give priority to resettlement of refugees who have made offshore applications to Australia’s refugee and humanitarian visa programme. To achieve this goal, the Coalition will increase the number of resettlement places made available through the UNHCR for offshore applications each year by 1,500 persons from 6,000 to 7,500 places within the Refugee and Humanitarian programme of 13,750.
• The Coalition will also pilot the Canadian refugee sponsorship programme to enable groups in Australia to sponsor refugees over and above our regular intake on a fully bonded basis. This programme will be based on for temporary and permanent protection visas for refugees in overseas camps. The sponsorship programme will enable community groups, approved by the government, to provide sponsorship to people assessed as refugees by the UNHCR offshore. The pilot will be introduced in the first term of Coalition Government with a view to establishing a permanent programme in a subsequent term. The private sponsorship programme would therefore enable Australia to lift our refugee intake to 15,000 within three years.

• We believe in strong border protection coupled with a generous intake of refugees from around the world.
• We do not believe in giving special treatment to those who travel to Australia as they are in no more need than any others.
• We believe we need to end the policy of multiculturalism and emphasize to new immigrants that Australian values do not include such things as female circumcision, Sharia law, or the subjugation of women, and that such things are against the law.

As a new party based on sex, gender and personal liberty, we do not have policies developed yet on overseas aid or refugees.

The Greens are committed to a long-term, practical and humane approach to immigration that rejects the failed policies of mandatory detention, detention of children, indefinite detention and off-shore processing. Our position is based on the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, to which Australia is a signatory, which states that seeking asylum is not illegal. The Greens will: prioritise the timely processing of asylum claims, increase Australia's humanitarian intake and introduce a new visa subclass for people displaced by climate change.

• Have closed borders.
• Have a transparent, compassionate immigration policy at a level that does not exceed our society’s capacity to cope.

5. Religious security

Many vulnerable people experience intolerable suffering in various countries due to persecution and a lack of religious freedom, often because of laws that forbid practice of non state religions. What would your Party do to encourage apostasy laws to be repealed in such countries, so that people are free to follow their own religious convictions without fear? What else would your Party do to support vulnerable people groups overseas, and respond to specific instances of religious or ethnic persecution?

• Family First believes that Australia needs to be more active in highlighting abuse and the targeting of minority religions in foreign countries. 
• Laws prohibiting religious conversion run contrary to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and should be dealt with by international bodies with Australian support.

Family First believes that Australia needs to be more active in highlighting abuse and the targeting of minority religions in foreign countries - particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Laws prohibiting religious conversion run contrary to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief." The appropriate forum for action is therefore the United Nations, and Family First would support any reasonable actions through this forum and other international forums to highlight and deal with the abuse of so-called ‘apostasy’ laws overseas.

We would continue to raise concerns in all international forums and to encourage a change of policy and if necessary go to the international court of arbitration to support the plight of the oppressed and the repeal of Apostasy Laws in all Muslim nations. 

• Priority to those ready to integrate into Australian way of life.
• Priority to persecuted Christians.
• Immigration denied to those who pose a challenge to our Christian heritage.

Australia should continue to be a world leader in being a generous haven for genuine refugees through internationally supervised and orderly refugee resettlement programs. Priority should be given to refugee applicants who are most likely to readily integrate into the Australian way of life, including those who are being persecuted for their Christian faith.

Consequently, CDP supports the creation of Special Assistance Category visas to meet the needs of persecuted Christians. CDP acknowledges that most of these Christians will originate from Middle Eastern countries and the Party has no problem with this.

On the other hand, CDP believes that immigration should be denied to those who pose a considerable challenge to the maintenance of Australia as a free society with a Christian heritage.

The lack of religious freedom is closely associated with other abuses or restrictions upon human rights. The DLP has always fought for freedom. We recognise that people only flourish and find fulfillment in a free society and we have always stood firm against Totalitarian and Stalinist regimes.

We support religious toleration in foreign countries. However realistically we have no jurisdiction over these foreign countries.

• Enforced or coerced belief in religion is a significant global problem.
• Australia should provide sanctuary, to the extent that we can, to all victims of religious persecution, be they Jewish, Christian, Muslim, of other religions, or of none.
• The Secular Party agrees that a proposal of a special assistance visa has merit.

Freedom of religion is widely professed, but imposition of religion is widely practised. Renouncing one’s religion is widely regarded as a kind of cultural betrayal, and in Islamic countries, is often a capital offence. If Australia were to create a special assistance visa category for victims of such persecution, this would benefit not only the individuals concerned but would serve to highlight the plight of such victims. As such, even if only rather symbolic, it would be a valuable service that Australia could provide.

• Freedom of religion or belief is a basic right and essential to a harmonious society.
• Federal Labor will call on all states which have not signed or ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to do so, or uphold the rights contained therein.
• Federal Labor's firm position is that the right to freedom of religion must be respected in all countries, in accordance with international human rights law. 

Federal Labor believes that the right to freedom of religion or belief is a basic right, and an essential element of any harmonious society.  It is embodied in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Australia is a signatory.  Federal Labor will call on all states which have not signed or ratified the ICCPR to do so, and to uphold the rights contained therein.

During Federal  Labor's first term in Government, Australia spoke strongly in support of the Declaration on the Elimination of All forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and supported the UNGA resolution on freedom of religion and belief, most recently in 2009.

Federal Labor's firm position is that the right to freedom of religion must be respected in all countries, in accordance with international human rights instruments.  

If re-elected, the Gillard Labor Government will continue to raise issues of freedom of religion and belief with individual governments, as specific concerns arise.  

We will raise freedom of religion and belief in the course of the bilateral human rights dialogues with China, Vietnam and Laos.  

We will also call on individual countries to uphold the right to the freedom of religion during Universal Periodic Review proceedings of the Human Rights Council.

Federal Labor is also firmly committed to meeting our obligations under the Refugees Convention and to meaningfully contributing to the international protection system.

• The Coalition in government would again work hard – both through direct bilateral contacts and through the United Nations – to speak up for those around the world who are persecuted because of their religion, including by advocating the repeal of apostasy laws.

A Coalition government would stand up for persecuted groups overseas with renewed vigor, in countries such as  Burma, China and Iran as examples. The Coalition would engage with other like-minded countries and NGOs over human rights issues.

• We believe that diplomatic pressure on offending countries is the appropriate first response to such human rights violations, followed by economic sanctions if that is unsuccessful.

On the issue of religious security we believe that people should be free to follow any religion or belief they choose to as long as they don’t ram it down other people’s throats. The best thing people could do to repeal apostasy laws in other countries would ultimately be to do away with religion altogether. Apostasy laws in some countries have been encouraged by the missionary zeal of other religions trying to take over from an established form of belief. This is a problem created by the inherent nature of organised religions and is not something that secular organizations can or should try to fix.

• People should be free to adopt any religion they wish
• Apostasy laws an inevitable consequence of organised religion

THE GREENS DECLINED TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION.

• We would encourage all countries to allow freedom of all ethnic groups and religions to express their beliefs peacefully.