Australia pledges help to Indonesian effort
05/01/2005 - 14:41:41Australian prime minister John Howard today pledged Australian $1bn (€577m) in loans and grants to help Indonesia recover and rebuild after the tsunami disaster.
“This is a historic step in Indonesian-Australian relations in the wake of this terrible natural disaster,” Mr Howard said in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
He said he and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would head a joint commission to monitor how the money is spent.
Half will be in the form of grants for short term relief and the remainder in loans for long term reconstruction.
“It will in every respect be a partnership between Australia and Indonesia,” Howard said.
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