What's likely in foreign affairs budget

FOREIGN AFFAIRS - WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE BUDGET

* No rise expected for foreign aid budget, currently $4 billion, but there is talk of a $400 million cut

* Aid level as proportion of gross national income at an all-time low

* Redirection of funding to the Pacific and boosting regional security, in response to Foreign Policy White Paper

* Funding for APEC summit in Papua New Guinea

* Funding for two-thirds of the cost of an undersea high speed communications cable linking Australia, PNG and Solomon Islands, to be finished by late 2019.

* New diplomatic posts.