Asian Development Bank
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The Australian government has committed AU$492 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) during the 2025-28 pledging round to set up developmental projects that will aid in poverty reduction in the Indo-Pacific region.

The fund is intended to support the lower-income developing countries. The Australian pledge will aid the countries in the region with the construction of hospitals and education facilities.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said in a statement, "Australia's contributions to the Asian Development Fund will assist countries in our region to meet their most pressing needs. Australia has been working closely with the Fund and the Asian Development Bank to ensure it delivers for our region, and addresses Pacific priorities, including climate change."

However, in the recent times, the Australian government has been disappointed by the ADB's operations of funding low-quality projects in the Pacific, and especially how the the Chinese companies have been earning major projects in the region, by making low bids, ABC News reported.

The Anthony Albanese-run government also pointed out that the Chinese companies avoid local hires and often recruit their own workers, which limited the development benefits intended to encompass the Pacific communities, and that contracts refused to bear the maintenance costs later.

Minister for the Pacific and International Development Pat Conroy said, "They've [ADB] been focused too much on awarding contracts to the cheapest bidder, and that's led to, quite frankly, poor quality outcomes for the Pacific. ... It has been accompanied by not using local labor. So we have been lobbying very hard and will continue to lobby on this."

Conroy added that Australia has also alerted ADB to have the bank's logo on the projects and not that of the builder. He pointed out how the Chinese state-owned companies have been branding the projects, which were funded by the ADB or the World Bank.