Dr Tim Anderson, spokesman for the independent group Aidwatch, says Australia is failing to train the people it should be helping in PNG.

Aidwatch has been vocal on the issue of ‘boomerang aid’ - where money supposed to assist developing countries ends up funding Australian firms and consultants rather than the people it’s meant for.

Dr Anderson said aid programs tend to be expensive and wasteful. "Very little education and training happens under our aid programs, even though billions of dollars are spent," he said.

He says the problem is systemic. "It isn't resources that stops us training large numbers of people from Timor , PNG or Solomons, and it's not a lack of goodwill," he said. "It's something about our system and the way we do aid programs."

Source: ‘Australia's boomerang aid slammed’ by Claudette Werden, Radio Australia, 29 July 2009