The Pacific needs our help – and it needs it now

We should not be afraid to take steps that "value add" to our generous taxpayer-funded aid programs. Indeed doing so ought to be in the Australian national interest.

In countering China's aggressive and debt-laden driven approach in our immediate region we must be bold, and we must be innovative.

Linking development assistance or aid delivery closer to the countries and communities that benefit from them makes good sense.

There will be vested interests who will try and undermine this strategy.

But we need to get better value from the support we give our region – support that is easily the most generous of any donor country.

Better value in terms of the quality, and relevance, of the programs that are delivered, and better value where the actual domestic benefits of "boomerang aid"

Our aid has to be a key component in our fight to counter China's regional influence, and in some countries that is close to dominance.

It needs to be better delivered, and if better delivered it will enjoy the greater support of the Australian community, and be even greater appreciated in our neighbours.