David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Cormann; I am getting to that. Not all Australians have been negatively impacted by the crisis at this point. If you have a stable income and your job and income are not threatened, in recent months you have enjoyed lower interest rates and lower petrol prices. You probably have more disposable cash in your pocket than you had before. Giving you an extra $950, as welcome as it is—and I do not begrudge people getting it—is not really necessary to offset the negative impacts of the global financial crisis.

There is a well-accepted economic proposition that deficit finance should only be used to fund long-term infrastructure that will provide direct benefits to those who will be paying for it, through taxes to cover interest and principal repayments. Despite the rhetoric and spin of the government, there is nothing in this package that provides such long-term benefits. What benefits will my children and their children receive for the taxes that they will be paying for many, many years to come to cover this massive exercise in political pork-barrelling? I contend that they will receive absolutely no benefits but they will be paying taxes for years if not decades to come to cover the costs. It is simply inequitable to place the burden of interest and principal payments on people who will not receive the direct benefits. This package will only increase economic activity in the period in which it is spent. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.