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

I thank the honourable member for her question. Data from the United States overnight continues to confirm the impact of the global recession on its national economy. In the month of February, industrial production in the United States fell a further 1.4 per cent, taking production down to its lowest level in seven years. Capacity utilisation in the United States has now fallen to 70.9 per cent, down from 71.9 per cent in January. This is now equal to the lowest capacity utilisation level in the United States ever recorded.

Beyond the United States, we have received further confirmation of the way this global economic cyclone is hitting economies around the world. Canada has recorded a sharp jump in unemployment from 7.2 per cent to 7.7 per cent, and Italy has seen a fall in GDP of 1.9 per cent in the December quarter, its largest fall since contemporary records began in 1981. In Singapore, the largest fall in retail sales in a decade was recorded in January, with retail sales down by 12.2 per cent compared with last year. What these figures from the United States, from Canada, from Italy and from Singapore demonstrate is that this global recession is affecting every national economy. The key question within each national economy is, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ That is why the government has put forward its economic stimulus plan for the future, which is, firstly, based on us providing guarantees for bank deposits in order to underpin confidence in the Australia financial system; secondly, based on what we are also doing with support payments to pensioners, to carers, to veterans and to farmers in hardship, which will support the 1½ million Australians employed in the retail sector; and, thirdly, based on our investment in long-term infrastructure—our school modernisation plan as well as what we are doing in social housing and energy insulation.

On the impact of the stimulus package—and I noticed those opposite are no longer asking us about the effect of the economic stimulus package—I draw the attention of those opposite to the minutes of the 3 March RBA board meeting, which were released today.

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