Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McLucas for her question. The economic stimulus package was needed very much to support growth. Without the fiscal stimulus Australia would now be in recession. This policy stimulus has helped support activity and kept thousands of Australians in jobs who would otherwise have become unemployed. If it were not for the government’s fiscal stimulus, the Australian economy would have contracted by 1.3 per cent over the past year. Instead, as a result of the stimulus, our economy grew by 0.6 per cent. The government stimulus has helped ensure Australia has the strongest growing economy of all the world’s 33 advanced economies. Through our road and rail investments we are supporting jobs today and also building the infrastructure we will need tomorrow. We are investing more in rail in the next 12 months—