PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has promised to be ``mindful'' of the resources needed by the foreign affairs department for its ambitious international agenda, but made no promises about extra funding.

Richard Woolcott, who has been made special envoy to sell Mr Rudd's idea of an Asia Pacific community, is concerned the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is underfunded for the job it's being asked to do.

Mr Woolcott, a former DFAT secretary, yesterday warned that funding for the department had been allowed to run down to dangerously low levels -- though he blamed previous governments rather than the Labor incumbent.

DFAT has had $21 million cut from its budget in 2008-09 and is expected to face cuts of at least $35 million during the following three years.

At the same time, the Rudd government has outlined a number of wide-ranging foreign policy objectives, including the Asia Pacific initiative, a bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council and a new nuclear disarmament commission.

Mr Rudd yesterday acknowledged that the budget cuts hadn't been pleasant.

``This has been a difficult budget to frame and we've imposed an efficiency dividend across the public service and that has had its effect,'' he said.

``None of that's nice, I understand that.''

But he said they were less destructive than the more than $300 million the Howard government had slashed from foreign affairs when first in office.

Mr Rudd, himself a former DFAT officer, said departmental staff were always ready to rise to a professional challenge and were enthusiastic about the Labor policy agenda.

``They have worked under extremely challenging environments in the past under much more straitened resources than exist now,'' he said.

``(And) we will always be mindful of the need for resources to support particular initiatives into the future.''

The opposition says Mr Woolcott's comments support their fears that Mr Rudd is overcommitting the department.

Liberal senator Russell Trood, a former international relations academic, said DFAT needed more diplomats, not less, at this time of major international change.

Source: Geelong Advertiser