The Federal Government has been criticised by social justice organisations among others for a decision to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from its foreign aid programs to pay for onshore asylum seeker processing.

Micah Challenge and World Vision are just two organisations outraged by the latest effort to shuffle money away from foreign aid.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr says $375 million from the foreign aid budget will be used to pay for the expenses of asylum seekers on the Australian mainland. With burgeoning processing times for asylum seekers reaching Australia’s shores, the money is proposed to go to food, living and other costs associated with releasing more asylum seekers into the community as they await processing.

Senator Carr said the Government gives aid to refugee camps in Africa, and there was no reason some of that should not be spent on asylum seekers in Australia.

Micah Challenge rejects the Government’s proposed plans, with John Beckett, Micah Challenge’s National Coordinator saying, “This move would represent an appalling breach of trust between the Government and the Australian public.”

Although Senator Carr has appealed to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines, saying reporting some costs of Australia’s refugee program is allowed, according to Mr Beckett this decision would effectively make Australia the third largest recipient of its own aid program.

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello has condemned the Federal Government’s decision.

“I am stunned by the Government’s plans to divert hundreds of millions of dollars away from its intended purpose,” Mr Costello said.

The announcement marks the second time in less than a year that the Government has shied away from its commitment to the world’s poor, Micah Challenge points out. In May, the Government announced it would delay boosting aid spending to 0.5% of a gross national income by 2015 – leaving Australia’s budget allocation at 0.35%.

Mr Costello called on the Government to reveal details of its plans for the aid budget, following speculation that deeper cuts are in the pipeline. “Australians are understandably proud of our aid program. We know we are blessed by great fortune and we expect our taxpayer dollars to be used transparently.”

“The Government needs to tell us where this $375 million is coming from,” Mr Costello said. “Which communities will go without? Which programs will be placed on hold while these funds are shuffled around?”

Costello told ABC last night that shuffling money around was not the answer: “Pinching from the aid program to prop up what some regard as a botched immigration policy is really a haemorrhaging wound that keeps haemorrhaging.”

Mr Beckett says, “The primary purpose of Australia’s aid program is to help people overcome poverty – not as a means of achieving a short-term budget surplus. Aid saves lives, and Australia has already helped break the poverty cycle for hundreds of thousands of people across the world.”