Australia will double the level of its development assistance to the Palestinian Territories in 2008 as part of international moves towards the establishment of a viable and sustainable Palestinian State.

Date:  17 December 2007

Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, has announced that Australia will double the level of its development assistance to the Palestinian Territories in 2008 as part of the move towards the establishment of a viable and sustainable Palestinian State.

McMullan pledged the $45 million (AUD) assistance package at the Donors’ Conference for the Palestinian Territories in Paris.

The Donors’ Conference is intended to build on the recent US-hosted conference in Annapolis, at which Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to negotiations with the aim of concluding a Peace Treaty by the end of 2008.

Australia’s funding will help the Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad implement their reform and development plan, which will focus on four key areas of development: governance reform, social development, economic and private sector development, and public infrastructure development.

Australia’s pledge sends an important signal that Australia remains committed to a two State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which will see a viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace with Israel.