Coalition relaunches 'Colombo Plan' for Australian study overseas

Opposition leader Tony Abbott called the plan, which would begin in 2015, a ''true two-way New Colombo Plan'', saying it would allow Australian students to study at Asian universities, ''and brings the best and brightest talent from the region to Australia''.

''We are in this to build a better nation and I can think of nothing that will, over time, make a bigger improvement to our country than a more genuine meeting of minds between ourselves and the people of our region,'' Mr Abbott said, launching the plan on Friday morning.

''The best time to ensure that there is a deep understanding of Australians for our friends and neighbours is if young Australians spend more time in those countries, immerse themselves deeply in their peoples, their languages, their cultures, so that the learning can then be utilised to the benefit of our country, our region and the wider world.''

Mr Abbott said an incoming Coalition government would spend $100 million on the plan, which Mr Abbott first announced in a speech to the Liberal federal council in Melbourne in June 2012.

The original Colombo Plan – which ran from the 1950s – brought some 40,000 future leaders to the country, Mr Abbott said.

''But we must learn from each other if this part of the world is to be the beacon of prosperity that we would like it to be,'' he said.

''The New Colombo Plan will be different and better than the original, adding an outward-bound component to the original one-way street. This time it will include the young leaders of Australia going to our region because we must advance together.''

The Coalition says that when the scheme is fully operational, it will provide financial support to up to 300 young Australians studying in the region every year, offering scholarships to students aged under 22 to spend one or two semesters of study in the Asia-Pacific region.