Australia becomes largest donor to tsunami event at a whopping US$810 million

Hey all,

www.cnn.com...

Government pledges top $3 billion

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Following is a list of monetary contributions pledged by governments and the World Bank to help Indian Ocean nations hit by the December 26 earthquake and tsunami, compiled from reports by Reuters bureaus and U.N. agencies. (Private donations are in parentheses where available)

(in millions of U.S. dollars)

African Union 0.10

Algeria 2.00

Australia 810

Austria 10.88 (13.60)

Bahrain 2.00

Belgium 16.32

Britain 96.00 (146.00)

Bulgaria 0.14

Canada 66.00

China 60.42

Cyprus 0.37

Czech Republic 0.668 (2.68)

Denmark 76.83

EU 31.29

Finland 6.12 (17.68)

France 66.38 (49.00)

Germany 680.20 (200.00)

Greece 1.34 (14.70)

Hungary 1.20

Ireland 13.62

Italy 95.00

Japan 500.00

Kuwait 10.00

Libya 2.00

Luxembourg 6.80

Netherlands 34.00

New Zealand 3.60

Norway 181.90

Poland 1.00 (1.30)

Portugal 10.88 (2.72)

Qatar 25.00

Saudi Arabia 30.00

Singapore 3.10

Slovakia 0.23

Slovenia 0.11

South Korea 50.00

Spain 68.02

Sweden 80.00

Switzerland 23.81 (39.24)

Taiwan 50.25

Turkey 1.25

UAE 20.00

USA 350.00

Venezuela 2.00

World Bank 250.00

Total: 3,695.328 (503.36)

Australia is currently the worlds largest donor at US$810 million, showing that only with a small population we still have a big heart to the unfornutate people in Indonesia up north.

I believe this sign of generosity should be countered with an even larger donation to the crisis from the United States of America, who with it's massive population and the worlds largest economy, the Bush Administration has only pledged US$350 million. I believe this should be increased 10 fold at least as the US runs the risk of being seen as an uncaring nation and furthering hatred against the US in the third world.


thanks,
drfunk

It is quite a large contribution from Australia to Indonesia. $400 million of it, I believe, is a loan, 40 years interest free. It is also a fine way of erasing recent Indonesian concerns after Foreign Minister Downers recent blunders, eg. 'pre-emptive strikes'.

Australia's $1 billion aid package to help Indonesia recover from the Indian Ocean tsunami was a gesture of friendship from Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

The aid package is the largest single donation ever given by Australia.

"This is a terrible tragedy for mankind. But what we are saying, to the people of Indonesia particularly, is that we are here as your friends," Mr Howard told the Nine Network.

"There's an old saying in the English language that charity begins at home.

"Our home is this region and we are saying to the people of our nearest neighbour that we are here to help you in your hour of need."

www.smh.com.au... Tsunami/1-billion-aid-comes-from-friendship-Howard/2005/01/06/1104832236044.html



[edit on 6-1-2005 by Volksgeist]

OK. So you think that $s only count. How about the Indian contribution of immediate response of despatching six Naval ships including a hospital ship to Sri Lanka with tons of relief material and the armed forces rescue teams, and three Naval ships to Indonesia and Many more to Maldives? The Indian Coast Guard have sent out more than 14 ships for relief and rescue missions. And there's other equipment like bridges, helicopters, dozers, JCBs etc etc. They have saved thousands with timely aid while the West is still playing games on paper. In fact the Indian Armed Forces were first off the block by commencing relief operations in Sri Lanka within six hours of the Tsunami strike. The Americans have managed to send only an 'advance party' there after 6 DAYS!!! Amazing American (in)efficiency eh?
And the West is still twiddling its thumbs!! Cheers!

Originally posted by Volksgeist
It is quite a large contribution from Australia to Indonesia. $400 million of it, I believe, is a loan, 40 years interest free. It is also a fine way of erasing recent Indonesian concerns after Foreign Minister Downers recent blunders, eg. 'pre-emptive strikes'.

Australia's $1 billion aid package to help Indonesia recover from the Indian Ocean tsunami was a gesture of friendship from Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

The aid package is the largest single donation ever given by Australia.

"This is a terrible tragedy for mankind. But what we are saying, to the people of Indonesia particularly, is that we are here as your friends," Mr Howard told the Nine Network.

"There's an old saying in the English language that charity begins at home.

"Our home is this region and we are saying to the people of our nearest neighbour that we are here to help you in your hour of need."

www.smh.com.au... Tsunami/1-billion-aid-comes-from-friendship-Howard/2005/01/06/1104832236044.html



[edit on 6-1-2005 by Volksgeist]

I'd have to agree with you there. Australia's contribution to Indonesia will be seen by many as an attempt to get back on good terms with them after aforementioned stumbles by Downer.

Originally posted by mikesingh
OK. So you think that $s only count. How about the Indian contribution of immediate response of despatching six Naval ships including a hospital ship to Sri Lanka with tons of relief material and the armed forces rescue teams, and three Naval ships to Indonesia and Many more to Maldives? The Indian Coast Guard have sent out more than 14 ships for relief and rescue missions. And there's other equipment like bridges, helicopters, dozers, JCBs etc etc. They have saved thousands with timely aid while the West is still playing games on paper. In fact the Indian Armed Forces were first off the block by commencing relief operations in Sri Lanka within six hours of the Tsunami strike. The Americans have managed to send only an 'advance party' there after 6 DAYS!!! Amazing American (in)efficiency eh?
And the West is still twiddling its thumbs!!

Cheers!

If you look you will find that Australia has also sent non-$$$ support to affected nations, mostly Indonesia. Frigates have been sent, military helicopters and the Medical Corps. Perhaps the Australian support was not as quick as India's, but the state of damage in Aceh didn't facilitate the matter. I belive in fact that the Sri Lankan international airport was intact, unlike Aceh

Just as a side note..... Australia decided to give aid to Indonesia bilaterally, I imagine this could be taken as a snub of the UN. Afterall the UN announced that it would lead the co-ordination role.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing this has turned into a pissing contest....

I guess it's good for the relief effort....

Pissing contest? ... urgh. No its a measure of our generosity - I don't know one Aussie who's complaining. Indonesia is our closest neighbour - Australia is lucky its NW coast wasn't hit. I don't think this is to denigrade the aid and relief efforts of other countries at all (hats off) ... guess we can afford it cos we don't have most of our money tied up in war

I agree with Gazrok it�s turning into a competition, one that has been commented on by kofi at the UN. Is it good, not really people shouldn�t get so hung up about it, which has been happening a lot here recently. It�s good that the world is contributing in this way don�t get me wrong but why do we have to match off, mmm could it have all started with a news article in the NY times about the Bush administration being stingy? Bl**dy hell America!!!!

Ok ok ... even so, a 'competition of compassion' is much better for mankind than a competition of aggression don't you think?

Now if this wave of compassion does not subside too quickly, as Blair said, it can be used to also eradicate poverty in the poorest African nations. I hope the tides have changed for good.

I think what the 'competition' really shows is the almost complete indifference of the oil rich arab nations to their Muslim brothers plight in Indonesia...

Muslim nations the first to denounce the interference of the west in their affairs yet when push comes to shove there not prepared to put their money where there mouth is and look after their own...

I hope Jamia Islamia have noted how little support they are receiving from the Saudi's.

The other thing to remember about response times is that initially no-one knew how bad the damage was in Indonesia. Limited communications infastructure, and damage to it, pretty much reduced our capacity to know what had happened. When we found out, things were put in motion.

As for the US response, and again it comes down to timing, it takes time for a Navy ship to sail to location, and the US didn't have any ships in the area at the time. Also, with Australia so close, it makes sense that we get in first. Flowing on from this (as I'm sure the argument will be why the USS didn't send aircraft) there is only a finite amount of space available at airfields. Clogging the system is nearly as counterproductive as doing nothing. Best to get an initial response in, work out what you need where and when, then invite others to fly in if required. Also (rightly or wrongly under the circumstances) you just can't launch a military force into a sovereign nations territory. You need diplomatic clearance etc. And finally, it takes time to get together the necessary stores, load an aircraft, and get in the air. Considering the timing of the disaster (public holidays and traditional leave period for the military) I'd say the response time was damn good.

Amen to the competition of compassion. I'm sure everyone is doing this for the right reasons. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been destroyed. Let's just help all affected nations to rebuild, and get their lives back together, irregardless of colour, religion or political affiliation.

has only pledged US$350 million. I believe this should be increased 10 fold at least as the US runs the risk of being seen as an uncaring nation and furthering hatred against the US in the third world.

If ANYONE gives someone $350 million, and then ANYONE ELSE thinks that's seen as uncaring....well, they can pretty much go # off and die! as far as I'm concerned, hehe... We help fricking everyone in the world in their time of need, and at every little damn thing, the world always wants to just cave our skulls in. Damn, we've made some mistakes too (especially under this Administration), but Jesus H. Christ, can we give this crap a rest?

Onya Willard856 I am amazed how quickly and generously these nations have responded. I think the Aussies are doing a great job, as are the Americans, English, Japanese, Singaporean etc etc etc. Individuals from everywhere have taken it upon themselves to go there and assist. Even poor countries are donating.

The US military doing excellent work there and fast ... from what I see on the news their efficiency and compassion is in a word, awesome!
Gazrok the American grilling is a knee-jerk response to American trumpet-blowing - don't worry about it.

Yeah, some individuals have given amazing amounts, Michael Schumacher for instance gave $10 million of his own money, admittedly he can afford it as compared to many, but does make you think. I'm sure someone said somewhere (I'm looking for the link) that they're in no need of more money, just the physical aid to get things done. What are you gonna do with all that money if you don't have the man power and infrastructire to get it to work?

The 350 million amount is expected to go up, and BTW that just the American Goverment, with the people and contributions the total american money will greatly exceed 1 billion. Also that 350 mill isn't involved with all the Navy and AF help that has been given, with that navies ships and helos, and the Air Forces cargo plans.

America never gets any credit for all its humanitarian efforts. , I appluad countries like Australia and Japan for giving so much, and I think if any country should give more it should be China &/or Saudi Arabia. But I wont bash them for it, because all this money that these countries are giving could have always been spent on working on there own infastructure in their own country.

Originally posted by Flange Gasket
I think what the 'competition' really shows is the almost complete indifference of the oil rich arab nations to their Muslim brothers plight in Indonesia...

Muslim nations the first to denounce the interference of the west in their affairs yet when push comes to shove there not prepared to put their money where there mouth is and look after their own...

I hope Jamia Islamia have noted how little support they are receiving from the Saudi's.

The defense of these nations is that they are constantly criticized for giving money to charities that fund terrorism... If they donate $1billion, they'd get blasted for using islamic charities and accused of supporting terrorism...

But i agree non the less that they should be doing more... i think everyone should be doing more... Seeing as the US has pledged an amout that is less than what it costs to destroy iraq per week, i think they could do alot more. We in Australia are a tiny economy compared to europe and the US, yet we're footing a fifth of the bill...

All in all though its good to see people being so generous when the need strike... even if many nations may have alterior motives.

hmmm interesting points

firstly Drfunk does have a point with most countries being very stingy, but he did forget that the US has provided vast amounts of hardware to distribute aid which doesnt say much for the other countries besides the US with the exclusion of germany and japan.

what people dont understand is when downer made those comments there was a hostile government in indonesia ( megawatti )

Megawatti and john howard absolutley hated each other with a passion and i dont think the people of australia and the world are aware as to how close indonesia and Australia came to war

the new government in indonesia is significantly less hostile, and provides a perfect opportunity for our 2 countries to form a closer working relationship

another point is Australia delt individually with indonesia (bypassing the UN) to allow maximum benifit from the aid to be spent rebuilding indonesia basically its in australias best interests to have a politically and socially stable indonesia.

australias donation is more inline with an offering of an olive branch as opposed to kissing their asses .. because if we were inclined to kiss their asses we would never have gotten involved in east timor.

though i do find the comment about muslim countries being the first to cry foul at interferance from western nations but one of the last with extreamly poultry donations to help their "So Called Muslim Brothers in Arms" extreamly amusing and accurate


just remebered ..

another interesting point about the saudis is they held a telethon about a year or so ago to raise money for the families of suicide bombers they raised over 120 mill in cash

surely those of their faith who have had their lives totally devistated are more in need than fanatics who dont respect human life?

also i agree with Murcielago on the point that the US dont get the credit they deserve when they do something right, yet if they do something people consider wrong ... they get lots of attention

people shouldnt be so quick to critisize the US just because they dont agree with their forign policy

[edit on 7-1-2005 by Demandred]

right now three networks on TV are comming together for Australias biggest charity event on TV, even more money their raking in. Some kids are giving all their pocket money

this is starting to look like an auction on ebay or something.... to see who can give the most money...

i think right now its not about who is giving who.. its about who is outcasting the others with how much more ones is giving...

lame....

[edit on 8-1-2005 by ThichHeaded]