Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

It would appear that we have a false premise underpinning the member for Dickson’s question. On the one hand, we are dealing with a survey that relates to the period from 1 January to 31 March this year. On the other hand, he is referring to the retail businesses’ response to the federal budget. Unless the retailers surveyed were clairvoyant, presumably they were not aware of what the contents of the federal budget were in relation to survey material that had been elicited from the period 1 January to 31 March.

The view of the government has been outlined on this question during question time both today and on one or two other occasions. We believe that there are have been a number of factors which have generally influenced business and consumer confidence that have flowed through into the surveys that the minister and the opposition have raised both today and in question time. They are factors such as the global increase in petrol prices, and the US subprime crisis and the credit crunch that that has produced. So you have seen not only interest rate increases, which of course are another factor, but also additional interest rate increases that have flowed as a result of the US subprime crisis. That is the government’s view. I think the opposition’s attempt to seek to score cheap political points is underlined by the fact that the member for Dickson here today has suggested that a survey of retailers’ attitudes in January, February and March is a basis for determining their views on the efficacy of the federal budget handed down on 13 May—I think that illustrates what the opposition is on about.

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