Pacific development experts say Australia's latest budget, with its provisions for overseas development, is not markedly different in its focus to the aid policy of the previous government of Prime Minister John Howard.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan handed down the Labor Government's first budget on Tuesday.

Director of the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Jenny Hayward-Jones, says that while there are new programs, the budget can be seen as carrying on from previous ones.

"It continues the aid policy of the previous government, but tweaks it," she said.

However the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program that the new budget will allow a much needed improvement in how moneys are used.

"I think we can do more, and I think we can do it better, and this budget is a start in that direction," he said.

Billions to be spent on overseas aid
Over the next financial year the Australian government will spend $A3.7 billion on overseas aid.

It gives special attention to the South Pacific, with targeted funding to provide clean water, fight climate change and prevent blindness.

Radio Australia's reporter in Canberra, Graeme Dobell, says the new Labor government is starting to define its approach to the Pacific Partnerships it wants to negotiate with Island governments, with aid spending on regional infrastructure, public sector administration and customary land rights.

In the broader aid budget, Australia will spend $A300 million over three years to improve access to clean water and effective sanitation.

There will be another $150 million to help countries adapt to climate change, to assist South Pacific nations to model the dangers posed by rising sea levels, and to help assess the coastal vulnerability of island states.

Australia will invest $45 million over two years to meet Labor's election commitment to help eliminate avoidable blindness in the region.

Focus on customary land rights
A Pacific regional infrastructure facility worth $127 million over four years has been budgeted for, to carry out work on transport, water and energy projects.

Over four years, Australia will spend $107 million to assist in improving the work of government departments and public servants' efficiency.

On the sensitive issue of customary land rights, $54 million will be spent over four years on a program described as protecting land rights.

The aim will be to promote economic development while reducing the potential for conflict over land issues.

Australia will support work on planning, surveying and valuing land.

The budget shows the continuing growth of the Australian Federal Police in the region, with $75 million to be spent over four years on policing in the South Pacific - particularly on police help to PNG, Samoa and Nauru.

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