Pacific aid too important for the axe

In the Solomon Islands we observed training in combatting domestic violence against women being delivered to enthusiastic new recruits to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

This training is part of a Government program largely funded by Australian aid.

Last month the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced $4.5 billion in cuts over four years to Australia's foreign aid budget.

While some detail about the cuts has been released; $75.4 million from humanitarian, emergency and refugees programs, including $8.5 million from the International Committee of the Red Cross, and $4.2 million from UNICEF, questions still remain regarding where the rest of the $4.5 billion in cuts will fall.

The Foreign Minister must end the uncertainty for our friends in the Pacific. Will Julie Bishop's commitment to our neighbouring leaders and their citizens made last December be met?

I call on our nation's Foreign Minister to release the details of the cuts to individual programs and bodies funded by Australian development aid.

Many of the bodies running important programs throughout the Pacific are understandably sceptical about Julie Bishop's pledge that no development aid will be cut.

On two occasions in 2013 the Australian Government provided emergency food and water supplies to people living on the northern atolls of the Marshall Islands. Severe drought has literally dried up these communities.

Climate change is not a looming threat for many island states in the Pacific, it is a present danger.

Australia has withdrawn its support for a Commonwealth climate fund, which is an important multi-lateral initiative to help developing countries cope with climate emergencies. Further proof our nation's government has abandoned meaningful financial support for international climate initiatives.

How can these tiny island economies protect their limited infrastructure or secure their food and water supplies if a wealthy nation such as Australia ignores their pleas for help in dealing with a changing climate?

The Abbott Government's increasingly fractious relationship with Indonesia and their ham-fisted approach to the relationship with China have become symbols of incompetence in foreign relations. But these disagreements if handled properly in the future can be overcome.

The wrong approach to relations with our Pacific partners in development aid and climate change in the next three years could do fundamental damage beyond the horizon of a generation.