Call for rethink on aid policy in Pacific

By Campbell Cooney

A senior Australian expert in development says Australia's aid program in the Pacific is a failure, and should be re-thought.

Pacific Islanders are said to be poorer today, than 30 years ago. Professor Helen Hughes from the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney says the Australian Government turns a blind eye to the political corruption that is causing poverty in the Pacific. 

"They have ripped off whatever aid or tourism or minerals have been developed for a very small elite, you know these are our neighbours, we've betrayed them," she told Radio Australia.

But the former head of Economics at the University of the South Pacific, Professor Wadan Narsey, disagrees. 

"You can't blame Australian and New Zealand aid," he said.

Professor Narsey told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat the problem is how the aid is being spent. He says there are internal problems around governance that have led to stagnation, and those issues show no signs of going away.

"It doesn't matter how much money you throw in, that aid money is going to be wasted."

Both Australia and New Zealand contribute significant amounts of aid to Pacific nations.