Canberra, 24 June 1968
U.N.D.P. Special Fund projects
The substance of your minute (folio 78)1 was discussed briefly at the Senior Officers’ meeting this morning.
2. The question of the international aid as such was considered and two broad bases emerged. Namely:—
- in general we should steer clear of aid in the training and teaching field as this is a matter which can be more appropriately handled by Australia. This does not preclude however specialist type assistance in the way of educational equipment or buildings; and
- there is no point in seeking international aid for the sake of having it. Every project must be justifiable in its own right and in keeping with the Government’s present policy emphasis needs to be placed on economic type international aid e.g. the road survey or the provision of capital equipment
[matter omitted]
[NAA: A452, 1968/1573]
1 In a minute to Besley, Galvin referred to the urgency of forwarding a Special Fund proposal to the UNDP Council and mentioned that a feasibility study of forestry and fisheries had not produced a project. Moreover, the Administration had not reacted to suggestions regarding vocational training and labour intensive advising—‘We appear’, he wrote, ‘to be left with a possible mini Special Fund project … on [the] Cooperative College’ (dated ‘6/68’, NAA: A452, 1968/1573).