{"id":21130,"date":"2023-05-10T07:28:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T07:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=21130"},"modified":"2023-05-10T07:28:18","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T07:28:18","slug":"investing-to-secure-australias-interests-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/05\/10\/investing-to-secure-australias-interests-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing to secure Australia\u2019s interests in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Albanese Government&#8217;s approach in the Budget will make Australia more influential in the world, by investing in all elements of our statecraft including diplomatic power, trade and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At a time when we face the most confronting circumstances in decades, the 2023-24 Budget will better enable Australia&#8217;s global network to shape the region and advance our interests, including by lifting the capability of our foreign service, and by countering disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since coming into office, the Albanese Government has made a significant investment in our key relationships and our diplomacy, bolstering DFAT&#8217;s capability by funding more than 350 staff across our diplomatic network, raising the Department&#8217;s workforce to its highest levels in over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2023-24 Budget includes more than $55.7 million over the forward estimates to deepen our engagement in Southeast Asia. This will be achieved through innovative programs to support more people-to-people links, including specialised scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Albanese Government will also support the National Centre for Asia Capability (Asialink Business). These represent critical initial investments that will complement the implementation of the Government&#8217;s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, to be released later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government is delivering on its commitment to advance Australia&#8217;s trade and investment diversification agenda by investing $31.9 million to progress the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. This regional framework will expand Australia&#8217;s trade and economic interests including in digital and green trade and strengthen regional supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investment in the Simplified Trade System and the Trade Information Service is key to helping Australian producers and exporters navigate regulatory requirements and access information on emerging markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2023-24 Budget continues the Albanese Government&#8217;s long-term rebuild of Australia&#8217;s international development program, after almost a decade of Coalition cuts and neglect, including funding for DFAT to grow its team of development professionals to deliver an effective program with impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These measures will underpin the Government&#8217;s forthcoming new international development policy and provide the framework for working with partners across the region to meet our most pressing challenges, including climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Albanese Government is determined to clean up the fiscal messes left by the former Government, including a series of band-aid fixes through terminating budget measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be ongoing funding for the Interim Mission on Afghanistan, reflecting Australia&#8217;s commitment to the people of Afghanistan, and our enduring security and consular interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foreign Arrangements Scheme was introduced to ensure agreements with foreign countries are consistent with Australia&#8217;s national interests. Despite its clear benefits, terminating funding was provided by the former Government in successive budgets from the scheme&#8217;s 2020 introduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Albanese Government will support the ongoing administration of the scheme, as well as funding the required legislative review of the scheme to ensure it is working efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A temporary measure put in place by the former Government to cover historical underfunding of the Department&#8217;s overseas lease costs was due to expire. The Albanese Government will fix this structural shortfall with ongoing funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government will upgrade Australia&#8217;s ageing International Communication Network infrastructure, which supports global secure communications across government, building resilience against cyber threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Albanese Government continues to support the recovery of our vibrant visitor economy and fourth largest export earner, through the $48 million tourism and travel package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This funding is helping tourism businesses attract and upskill workers to address current workforce shortages and improve the quality of Australia&#8217;s tourism offerings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Albanese Government&#8217;s approach in the Budget will make Australia more influential in the world, by investing in all elements of our statecraft including diplomatic power, trade and development. At a time when we face the most confronting circumstances in decades, the 2023-24 Budget will better enable Australia&#8217;s global network to shape the region and &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/05\/10\/investing-to-secure-australias-interests-in-the-world\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Investing to secure Australia\u2019s interests in the World&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21131,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21130\/revisions\/21131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}