Release: $500 Million Pacific Islands Handout Rips Off Taxpayers

The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance (ATA), a 75,000+ member national grassroots advocacy group representing the nation’s taxpayers, today condemned the Morrison government's $500 million handout to Pacific island countries in the name of addressing climate change.

"Handing out half a billion dollars in grants to small foreign governments is an unconscionable waste of hard-earned taxpayers' money." said Satya Marar, ATA Director of Policy.

"Australia accounts for just 1.3% of global emissions and the Australian government's chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel has admitted that even a total elimination of this figure will do virtually nothing to address climate change. Our pacific neighbours account for a miniscule fraction of even this figure.

"If politicians want to throw an ice cube into a volcano for the purpose of virtue signalling, then they should use their own money and not public funds.

"Else, they can be honest to us about whether these handouts are actually about wooing Asia-Pacific leaders in an attempt to undermine the influence of communist China."