Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Melbourne Ports for his question. The key challenge is what governments do around the world in support of fiscal measures and broader economic measures to support growth at a time when the International Monetary Fund tells us that global economic recession is looming across the major economies. If we look across the world at the stimulus packages which have been embraced by various economies, we begin to see evidence of governments rising to this challenge and taking appropriate action.

Yesterday I made reference to the stimulus package which has been embraced by the government of China. Upon further examination of the detail of that package, this is a major package indeed, one of relevance not just to us but also to the wider region and to the world economy. I support fully the actions taken by the Chinese government, obviously, mindful of their domestic circumstances but, I believe, equally mindful of the importance of their growth to the wider regional and global economy. This is an important economy for Australia—important given the extent to which our external account and our trade account are dependent on future access to Chinese markets and the sale of Australian goods and services into that market. We will continue to work as closely as possible with our friends in China to ensure that we maintain maximum access to those markets in the future. It is of relevance to Australia, of relevance to jobs in Australia, of relevance also to our future prosperity.

Fiscal stimulus action has of course been taken elsewhere in the world as well. You see large fiscal stimulus packages in Germany, €23 billion; in the United States, US$170 billion; in Japan, something approaching ¥40 trillion; and, in Korea, $10.98 billion or KRW14 trillion. You see governments around the world embarking on fiscal stimulus packages, as we have done in Australia.

It is important for the government of Australia to embark upon a war against unemployment because if we look at what is happening around the world we see rising jobless data in many of the developed economies. Unemployment in the United States is already running at 6.5 per cent; in the UK, 5.7 per cent; in France, eight per cent; in Germany, 7.5 per cent; and it is rising in other economies as well. That is why we have embraced an Economic Security Strategy, a stimulus package of some $10.4 billion, and that is why we believe it is necessary in our current circumstances to support growth but also to support jobs. That package of $10.4 billion, we are advised, will help to create up to 75,000 additional jobs over the coming year. It is a $10.4 billion package aimed at helping to create up to 75,000 additional jobs over the coming year.

On top of that, the government announced yesterday a long-term strategy of $6.2 billion in support for the Australian automobile industry. This industry already directly generates a large number of jobs. If you add the indirect generation of unemployment, there are some 200,000 jobs in Australia dependent on the future success and transformation of that industry. That is the second step that we have embarked upon.

The third step, of course, lies in what we will do on infrastructure. Infrastructure investment, both through the Building Australia Fund and more broadly, is very much on this government’s agenda and has been from day one. Infrastructure investment, investment in the future of our auto industry and investment through the payment systems we have provided to families and pensioners for the future as well are designed to underpin growth and jobs growth into the future—all part of this government’s war on unemployment—and that is something we need to embrace more fully.

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