Australia's Foreign Aid Dilemma

Whilst public support for the aid program in Australia is strong, Australians are wary of costs and want to ensure that aid is proven to be effective. Australia''s Foreign Aid Program shows how aid fits into the story of Australia’s place in the world and why this form of public expenditure persists, but also why its budget and administering institution have a perpetually tenuous existence.

The Australian aid program faces a fundamental dilemma: how, in the absence of deep popular support, should it generate the political legitimacy required to safeguard its budget and administering institution?

Australia’s Foreign Aid Dilemma tells the story of the actors who have grappled with this question over 40 years. It draws on extensive interviews and archival material to uncover how ''court politics'' shapes both aid policy and administration. The lesson for scholars and practitioners is that any holistic understanding of the development enterprise must account for the complex relationship between the aid program of individual governments and the domestic political and bureaucratic contexts in which it is embedded. If the way funding is administered shapes development outcomes, then understanding the ''court politics'' of aid matters.

This comprehensive text will be of considerable interest to scholars and students of politics and foreign policy as well as development professionals in Australia and across the world.

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