Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

Just wait one second, Senator Fifield; I am coming to you. I do not need to remind anybody in this chamber of how bad the economic downturn is. Senator Fifield barely mentioned the global recession in his 10-minute speech; he just glossed over it. It is really not a big issue for him. During downturns like this, governments must act decisively and step in to stimulate the economy, support jobs and small business and take the burden off families. That is the reason why governments build up large surpluses in the good times: to prepare for the bad, difficult times. Those times have arrived.

It is not just Labor politicians saying we need to stimulate the economy. Economists globally, including some of the most conservative economists and economic institutions globally, are supporting our policy. The IMF, the World Bank and the OECD all support a stimulus package. The thing about stimulus packages is that you must act early and quickly. Senator Fifield agrees with this. Senator Fifield and I do a Monday morning spot on Sky News’s Agenda, and it is always very enjoyable. I enjoy his company, I have to say. I went back to one of the transcripts today.