While aid will increase in nominal terms, Australia’s aid spending will decline both in real terms and as a share of the federal budget over the forward estimates. Notwithstanding global aid cuts, Labor’s previous commitment to reaching spending worth 0.5% of GNI has been delegated to “the international community”. Against the backdrop of the publication of further detail on the UK’s far-reaching aid cuts, Kirsty McNeill has been appointed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham as Britain’s new development minister. Books, reports, articles, podcastsThe Lowy Institute’s latest Pacific Aid Map confirms that in 2024 Australia was not only the region’s biggest aid provider in the region, but also its biggest source of debt finance (Figure 2). Figure 2: Sources of debt financing in the Pacific, 2008-2024Disbursed loans, constant 2024 US$Source: Lowy Institute, 2026 Pacific Aid Map in five charts, website.