Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, because I too read the remarks of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve overnight. I took some encouragement from his remarks, but he made one fundamental point that the Leader of the Opposition neglected to mention. Very simply, that point is that the growth outlook is weak. He was making the point that the US might be seeing their first positive quarter of growth in some time. He was actually pointing to a ray of light in the United States economy, but he then said that there was a long, long way to go. He was not saying to the United States government or to the United States President that, as a consequence of the fact that they might grow in one quarter, they should withdraw their stimulus. He was not saying that at all, because in the United States, as is the case in this country, fiscal stimulus has been absolutely critical to supporting jobs, growth and confidence in the economy.

We had a growth figure of 0.6 per cent for the June quarter and of 0.6 per cent for the year. But, if those opposite had had their way, we would have gone backwards in the past year by 1.3 per cent. The truth is that most acknowledge—including the business community and most economists—that the very substantial fiscal stimulus put in place by this government has supported our economy, supported tens of thousands of jobs and kept open tens of thousands of small businesses. The Leader of the Opposition is seeking to construct the argument that somehow now is the time to rip the rug out from underneath the economy. He will not find any encouragement for that in the words of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Our stimulus has ensured that we have remained positive while the rest of the world has gone backwards. When you look at the evaluation of the Australian stimulus compared to stimuluses put in place by many other countries around the world, ours generally gets the big tick. It gets the big tick because it has been one of the most effective in the world and it is the reason we were the only advanced economy in the world to grow over the past year.

Those opposite simply do not understand the nature of the global economic challenge and its impact upon this country and, as a consequence, are not qualified to understand what policies are required as we move through to recovery. This government absolutely understand the importance of stimulus and the importance of the monetary policy put in place by the Reserve Bank. We understand both of those things and, as a consequence of that, we have been the best-performing major advanced economy in the world, which is something those opposite are completely incapable of understanding. Our stimulus has kept customers coming through the doors of not just retail businesses but also other businesses across the country. Our investment allowance provided a dramatic boost to many companies when they were purchasing equipment. All of these things are recognised in the figures which come from the ABS on a regular basis. They are in the retail sales. They are in the equipment measures. They are there for all to see. But those opposite are so blinded by their ideology and so driven by their own personal self-interest that they cannot see what is in the national economic interest. We on this side of the House can. We are implementing a stimulus which is supporting Australian business and Australian jobs.

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