The Hon Dr Anne Aly MP has just been announced as the new Minister for International Development – with small business and multicultural affairs also part of her portfolio. She is stepping into the role at a pivotal time with the global development system facing critical challenges all the while trends like geopolitics, climate shocks, and AI-driven transformation are accelerating.
The new minister will be met with a flood of briefings, stakeholder demands and the relentless churn of social media. She’ll need to consider how to make the case for her portfolio—to the public and within the political class—while weighing Australia’s national interests and deciding which development priorities deserve focus.
To cut through all this noise, we asked leading thinkers and practitioners: What’s one thing a new minister for development should grasp about Australian Development Cooperation?
The minister needs to be an advocate for Australia’s development program – both with the public and within the party room. With 25% to 50% of global ODA likely to be gone by 2027, Australia must sustain and increase its investment. To build a constituency beyond the convinced, the minister needs to explain how investment in development serves the national interest. Minister Conroy has been unapologetic in making the security, economic and international relations case for aid alongside the moral one.
One way to help build public understanding is framing underdevelopment as a threat to security and prosperity and development as a form of shared problem solving. Richer countries have more money, which is their differentiated contribution, but all are active partners with an interest in positive outcomes. I know that sometimes in practice programs can be donor-driven, ignore local expertise and feel disempowering.
So to achieve the ideal of partnership, Australia’s development program must be ‘country-led’ or ‘locally-led’. In the Pacific, Australia needs to continue its journey to overcome its self-regard and learn to be a real partner. This is easier in the Indian Ocean where Australia doesn’t have so much baggage. In Southeast Asia, Australia is forced into the requisite humility simply because it is not a dominant actor. Across all regions, development cooperation must break from models based on dependency and centre self-reliance.
The Minister for International Development needs to be an advocate for Australia as a development actor that is invested in the success of its neighbours – for mutual national interest – and bring both the party and the public along with them.
Melissa’s leadership of modern think tanks like AP4D and previously AIIA is second-to-none, and she is always fostering new collaborations to tackle complex foreign policy challenges. Her name is well-known in the development and foreign policy community and she is a good friend of the Lab. Melissa is incredibly generous with her time and at the Lab, we enjoy her deep expertise and her ability to bring people together across divides.
The new minister should grasp the critical importance of strategically investing in inclusive human capital development, which distinguishes Australia's development cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Australia has maintained a strong portfolio emphasising education, health, and social protection, with a commendable continued focus on gender equality, disability, and social inclusion.
This focus is particularly timely as countries in the region experience significant demographic change and, in some cases, the potential to benefit from a demographic dividend. For instance, in the Philippines, Australia supports and should continue to support ongoing education reforms, research on the well-being and development of young people, implementation of the Universal Health Care Law (UHC), and programs that promote gender equality. This helps the country in ensuring that its large and growing young workforce can maximise their full potential, leading to increased productivity, innovation, and overall economic growth that can lift communities out of poverty and contribute to regional stability.
In an era marked by a growing pushback against fundamental human rights around the world, Australia's emphasis on investing in people takes on even greater significance. More than just economic development, it is a crucial means of bolstering resilience and empowering individuals to claim their rights. Australia’s development cooperation has a vital opportunity to lead by strategically balancing partnerships with governments and other duty bearers with a strengthened commitment to engaging directly with rights holders. Australia has the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to supporting human rights and help shape a more just and resilient future for the region, standing firm against the erosion of fundamental freedoms.
This contributor is a foreign policy and development expert from the Philippines who contributed to the Lab’s Pulse Check x Southeast Asia. As a part of this project, the Pulse Check x Philippines gathered insights from 40+ non-government Filipino experts on how Australian decision makers should approach development cooperation in their country. The expert who contributed their perspective on this Intel question requested anonymity due to the nature of their ongoing work.
Two things are clear after coordinating over 350 MP meetings last Parliament through Micah’s grassroots advocacy network—largely driven by everyday constituents, not sector lobbyists.
First, Australians from all walks of life overwhelmingly support aid once they learn that it makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. They intuitively understand that in a fast-changing world—where climate disasters, pandemics, and instability cross borders—what happens to our neighbours profoundly affects us too.
Second, support for development cooperation defies political stereotypes. I’ve sat with progressive crossbenchers and staunch conservatives alike—many moved not just by Australia’s strategic interests, but by a deep sense of moral responsibility and national pride. Aid is one of the most tangible expressions of who we are internationally.
That’s why any incoming Minister for International Development should prioritise bipartisan engagement—working with DFAT to ensure MPs from all parties have meaningful opportunities to see our aid program in action. We need to move beyond briefings and invest in experiences that bring the impact of aid to life. Equally, we need to better tell the story of aid to the Australian public—showing the lives it changes, the crises it averts, and the stability it fosters across our region.
Because when people see it, it sticks. It inspires. And it opens space for political courage.
As a coalition of Christian organisations and grassroots advocates, Micah will continue working across the aisle—championing aid not just as charity, but as strategy and solidarity. And something Australians should rightly be proud of.
Matt is a humanitarian and advocacy specialist passionate about building campaigns and coalitions that help drive forward the positive role Australia can play in our world. As National Director at Micah Australia, Matt has a strong vision to bring together the tribes of the Australian church to practice justice and to put the needs of the world’s poor back on the country’s agenda. At the Lab, we love Matt’s passion to unite and advocate for global justice across Australians from all walks of life, churches, and politicians.
