Aid

That verdict is seen by my next guest as only half the truth.

To tell the other half, Luke Fletcher has written America and the Birth of Global Aid.

To take us, he says, back to the early days of US post-war international aid, to show the role it plays then and now in the exercise of American power in the world.

Luke Fletcher, writer and executive director of Jubilee Australia, joins me in the studio.

But what I'm saying is, let's just be honest about what it was really for.

On ABC Radio National, this is Late Night Live.

I'm David Marr, and I'm talking to Luke Fletcher about his book, America and the Birth of Global Aid, published a few weeks ago by Routledge.

Now, Luke, American aid to Europe was a huge success.

Uh, but what can be done to help those less well off? Well, it's not going to be an increase in children's allowance, but it's not all bad news potentially.

There'll be no increase to the children's allowance in next month's budget, meaning the payment will remain the same as it has been, uh, for the past decade.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has signaled the coalition will favor targeted supports to alleviate cost pressures on families.

Warnings made to the government that high energy prices and diesel rates above two liter a euro, as I mentioned, will be the new norm, has meant that measures to alleviate fuel prices will have to be factored into budgetary considerations.

Coalition sources have told The Irish Independent there will be no room for an increase in the children's allowance, which was, uh, last raised in budget two thousand and sixteen by five euro to a hundred and forty euro a month por-per child.

Now, all children need to be treated equal.

Everyone gets the children's allowance, but if you're a billionaire, you get it.

This isn't spending money elsewhere rather than spending at home.

Senegalese businessman Malik Fall put it this way.

Aid has delayed the development of business in Africa.

It has kept Africa behind.

Why? Because when aid is given, it can crowd out and replace local business.

Because everyone knows it doesn't help poor people.

This is not a secret.

Aid gets linked with business and ends up feeding crony capitalism.

It politicizes development in the recipient countries.

Even Starmer, who is Mr.

Foreign Aid, I love Davos, I'm a human rights lawyer, uh, said that we should reduce that number down to 0.5% and then 0.3%.

And now we hear, although Burnham's closest aides have sort of tried to push back on it, that between him and the new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, who's another guy that doesn't mind spaffing taxpayers' cash, let's be honest, that they wanna get this number back up.

I looked at this story and I just...