is mr abbott a liar?, page-58

"Do we really need the federal government to fund arts, foreign aid, embassies in craphole African countries,"

Yes there must be "embassies in craphole African countries",because theres something like 200 Australian mining companies working in these countries,these companies could be earning money,and thereby taxes so it makes sense.

foreign aid makes sense because its mostly given in the form of direct company assistance,yes arts are necessary,if for no other reason than showing as Australians we've grown intellectuality enough to understand the very reason to have it.

Who profits from our foreign aid?: the ‘technical assistance’ making business rich

“Boomerang aid” is the name Michael Somare claims he invented to describe the propensity of Australian aid to PNG to end up back in Australia, courtesy of highly-paid Australian consultants and firms specialising in “technical assistance” in the delivery of aid projects. For a small number of firms, it has provided a taxpayer-funded path to massive success.

This week, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism and Crikey will reveal the background to one of Australia’s most successful “technical assistance” companies and the gap between the rhetoric of accountability for taxpayers’ money and its reality in our aid spending.

“Technical assistance” is a billion-dollar business funded by Australian taxpayers. This year, we will spend $4.3b on foreign aid. Under the Government’s commitment to increase foreign aid to 0.5% of Gross National Income, that is scheduled to rise to $8-9b in five years’ time.

Technical assistance over the last decade has accounted for 40-50% of the entire aid budget.

A small number of Australian firms have done very well from this:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/07/12/who-profits-from-our-foreign-aid-the-technical-assistance-making-business-rich/