Post by tommygun on Jul 8, 2006 14:30:38 GMT -5
Boomerang aid no myth
AUSTRALIAN bureaucrat Scott Dawson was reported to have dismissed “boomerang aid” as a myth during the PNG Update seminar in Sydney recently.
It might be true that 30% of the Australian aid expenditure went to local PNG companies and that 30% went to PNG institutions. It might also be true that 80% of the people employed are Papua New Guineans, but Dawson failed to mention that Australian aid is managed by Australian management contractors. He also failed to highlight the huge consulting fees associated with these managing contractors and the high remuneration packages paid to Australians working for them.
Even if 30% of the Australian aid went to local PNG companies and institutions, it is nowhere compared to the consulting fees paid to the Australian managing contractors operating each year. It would amount to the total earnings of the 80% Papua New Guineans supposedly employed either by the Australian contractors or by local companies.
On the average, monies paid a fortnight to an Australian working for one of those managing contractors is equivalent to the annual income of a national employed either by Australian aid or those Australian managing contractors.
These and others are some of the reasons why the Australian aid to PNG has been labelled as “boomerang aid” soon after its inception.
AUSTRALIAN bureaucrat Scott Dawson was reported to have dismissed “boomerang aid” as a myth during the PNG Update seminar in Sydney recently.
It might be true that 30% of the Australian aid expenditure went to local PNG companies and that 30% went to PNG institutions. It might also be true that 80% of the people employed are Papua New Guineans, but Dawson failed to mention that Australian aid is managed by Australian management contractors. He also failed to highlight the huge consulting fees associated with these managing contractors and the high remuneration packages paid to Australians working for them.
Even if 30% of the Australian aid went to local PNG companies and institutions, it is nowhere compared to the consulting fees paid to the Australian managing contractors operating each year. It would amount to the total earnings of the 80% Papua New Guineans supposedly employed either by the Australian contractors or by local companies.
On the average, monies paid a fortnight to an Australian working for one of those managing contractors is equivalent to the annual income of a national employed either by Australian aid or those Australian managing contractors.
These and others are some of the reasons why the Australian aid to PNG has been labelled as “boomerang aid” soon after its inception.