Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Cormann. The IMF has recently called for Australia to increase borrowings to boost public investment in infrastructure as it would 'support aggregate demand, take the pressure of monetary policy, and insure against downside growth risks'. They said:

It would employ resources released by the mining sector, catalyse private investment, boost productivity, could ease housing supply bottlenecks and would take advantage of record low interest rates.

Yet the budget says that payments to states for infrastructure will fall from $9 billion next year to a new low of $4 billion in 2019. Will the Liberal government take up the advice of the IMF and borrow to invest in infrastructure? Or is the government going to stick to its spin that debt is a dirty word and simply sit on its hands?