Comments

Terence From your numbers you could add 22 and 29 and say a 51% majority ( barely) don't want aid cut. To me that's a long bow when up or down its really just 22% saying it should be more versus almost double that, 40% saying it should be less. But surely as its taxpayers money - the far greater majority is the 40 and 29 - 69% clear majority that say current AID is enough or more than enough. Given how tough people in Australia are doing it - Id say that 69% is pretty relevant come election time - if Albanese, Marles and Wong keep throwing our taxes around like its their own. I wonder how many of the 22% who say "not enough" actually pay much income tax. Could make that a demographic question next survey.

Thanks for continuing this survey. As you point out in your commentary, it is interesting (and encouraging) that attitudes towards development spending haven't soured even more sharply given the financial pressure many Australian households are currently experiencing. It would be interesting to know if attitudes towards aid would shift depending on the type of assistance (ie health, education, economic, law and order, environment etc). You've undoubtedly considered this but just a suggestion.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, Stephen. It's heartbreaking to hear that your dad's hearing needs were neglected during his hospital stays. Your story underscores the urgent need for more inclusive assistive technology initiatives, ensuring that older people are not left behind. Hopefully, this piece will bring attention to the existing gap and inspire concrete actions to address these inequities.

Hi Clay, Thank you for the comment. We provide people with information on the size of the aid budget. We tell them aid/federal government spending. (Absolute aid amounts seem large, even though they are not. Most people don't understand GNI. So we use government spending as the denominator - it's pretty easily understood.) Here's our question wording. = Every year the Australian government gives aid money to poorer countries. Currently just under $1 out of every $100 of federal government spending is given as aid. Which one of the following options best reflects your opinion about aid spending? = Interestingly providing Australian's with accurate information on aid spending in experiments didn't seem to shift views much. See: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4249482 and https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2885536 Thanks Terence

The annual research continues to be interesting. However, other studies indicate that many people over-estimate the amount of Australia's foreign aid. Have you tried to control for that, ie to understand if people who say Australia gives too much aid actually understand how low it is compared to other countries?

I really agree with this call. My Dad is quite elderly and in the last few years has had to have several hospital stints. In none of them has anyone cared whether his hearing aids are working and being used. Often, they are not. It's just discrimination and should be unacceptable. As you say an "often overlooked demographic".

Thank you for opportunity that has given to people Timor Leste and especially for me. I am a seasonal worker from East Timor. I'm very interested to apply for the PEV visa for work and school in Australia. In the name of the Jesus, I hope I will sucessful.🙏

Without maps and hard evidence, this jargon-filled, superficial account is less than credible. There’s no mention of dams, the forced sale of arable land, the lingering impact of wars. I have worked in Laos for many years and walked or driven across much of the lowland areas and find this Asia Foundation account unconvincing. More accurate reporting on Laos is needed.

Hi Natasha, Do I need to put my wife's and my 5 children's passports to apply or myself can apply and later or after I receive my visa 192 ?

Australia will run the ballot through Department of Home Affairs as it does for the PEV. I'm not sure when the ballot will open though.

You need to wait till the ballot is closed at the end of July and then the winners announced presumably in early August.

Hello, I was born in Iran and now I am 33 years old, I have a diploma in mathematics, and I got married at the age of 23, and after seven years of living together, I separated from my husband due to infidelity. I have a 5-year-old son who is 2 months old. After the separation, my husband smuggled him to Turkey secretly and without my knowledge, and now they are in Germany, and I have not seen my child for three years. Because of our Afghan culture and the fact that a woman should not be present in society after a divorce, I am under pressure from my family and they want me to get married soon, but I cannot think about marriage. I started working as a secretary in a physiotherapy clinic due to the opposition of my family, but since Afghans do not have the right to work in Iran, I work secretly with a low salary. I want to be, to work, to have an income so that I can see my son one day, but life in Iran is so difficult and disappointing for me that sometimes I really have no motivation, I have a goal.