Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

Macromonitor Director Nigel Hatcher puts it like this:

This rebound has been almost entirely due to the boost to education building coming from the Commonwealth stimulus package.

He goes on to say:

This is the first time that a program of government building work has been of adequate magnitude to offset a major downturn in commercial building in Australia.

Peter Verwer from the Construction Forecast Council is in total agreement, saying that ‘the market is basically being held up by government spending and it is mainly education’. He says—and I think opposition senators will find this interesting:

If you look at the last quarter ABS data of approvals, for the $12 billion of non-residential developments, $7.6 billion of the total approved was education. That’s amazing … it’s historically unprecedented. Without looking at any single number, that has not happened even when Curtin and Menzies were the prime ministers. (Time expired)