Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday said India, South Africa and Indonesia, besides Japan, have the merit to get a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

He also spoke about the difficulties that the expansion of the council faces.

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Howard announced that his country plans to increase overseas aid allocation to about four billion Australian dollars a year by 2010.

This will double its present contribution, which includes the aid Australia is giving for tsunami victims, he said.

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The aid programme, he said, would be subject to annual review, taking into account effectiveness of the application of the additional resources.

It will also be dependent on strengthened governance and reduced corruption in the recipient nations.

Australia's programme, he added, would continue to have particular focus on the Asia Pacific region, which, he said, is the home of two-thirds of the world's poor.