The Islamic Kingdom of Bahrain is a very rich, very small country in the Middle East.

 

Its 1.3M people enjoy per capita income of more than $50K (USD) per year, 3 notches higher than Australia's ranking on the IMF's GDP rankings.

 

 

Bahrain in Arabic means two seas.  

 

Bahrain has a close association with the ocean.  

 

But according to Julie Bishop, it's not close enough.

 

So Julie has decided that Australian taxpayers should pay for the development of surf life saving in Bahrain.

 

 

Project description

In October 2016, Life Saving Victoria in Australia assisted Royal Life Saving Bahrain to develop the first Water Safety Strategy for Bahrain. In implementing the Water Safety Strategy, Royal Life Saving Bahrain aims to develop a culture of swimming and enjoyment of water, promote volunteerism, reduce water- related death and injury, enhance the appeal of water- related tourism and foster respect for coastlines and marine habitats. 

The Bahrain Lifesaving and Swimming Development Project, supported by Council for Australian-Arab Relations, will help Royal Life Saving Bahrain to develop lifesaving and swimming competency in Bahrain. The project will see experts from Australia travel to Bahrain and conduct training programs to develop local expertise in lifesaving and swimming.

Key dates

• Lifesaving Workshop, Manama, Bahrain, 19 February 2018 to 27 March 2017
• Swimming Workshop, Manama, Bahrain, 09 October 2017 to 16 October 2017

• Council for Australian-Arab Relations grant offer: $20,000.
• Total project value: $20,000.

 

Looks to me like Bahrain already has a fair bit going on the swimming/life saving departments.

 

Why on earth Australia should pay for more is beyond me.