AUSTRALIA's commitment to increasing foreign aid might be on the backburner as Treasurer Wayne Swan makes drastic cuts to achieve a Budget surplus.
The Gillard Government's expenditure review committee is considering delaying its promise to boost foreign aid to 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2015.
The Federal Government is considering pushing the deadline back by three-to-five years, saving up to $1 billion, ABC TV reported tonight.
The Labor Party enshrined its commitment to increasing foreign aid in its party platform at last year's national conference.
But on Sunday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard refused to comment on foreign aid spending in the May 8 Budget.
World Vision chief executive Tim Costello said he would be worried and disappointed if there were adjustments to the timeframe.
"Australians assume we're very generous, but in fact we're in the bottom third of OECD countries," he told ABC TV.
Mr Costello said many people were surprised to learn that Australia was only aiming to give 50 cents in a $100 by 2015.
"We're only giving 35 cents (at the moment)," he said.
"It's only a small amount, most of the world's poor don't live in Africa, they live in our region."
Mr Costello quoted conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron saying he "would not balance the books on the back of the poor".
"There's far greater (fiscal) pain in Britain ... but they ring-fenced aid," he said, adding they were increasing their aid budget from 0.5 to 0.7 per cent of GDP.
Mr Costello said former prime minister Kevin Rudd had slashed high salaries to consultants employed by AusAID.
There is bipartisan support for increasing Australia's foreign aid efforts.
