Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

That question from the shadow Treasurer just demonstrates why those opposite cannot be taken seriously in the national debate. We are dealing with a global financial crisis which has turned into a global recession. It is posing the biggest economic challenge to this country in generations. They have got the hide to get up and pretend that the essential economic stimulus we have put in place to boost demand at precisely the time our economy is threatened is not necessary. They are pretending that there is no need for a concerted government response in the face of the biggest global recession since the Depression—no need at all!—no need for any economic stimulus, no need for the payments to pensioners, no need for the payments to families with children, no need for the payments to carers and no need for tax bonuses.

That is what this question is all about. It is somehow to justify their pathetic political strategy in this House, when the truth is that the country desperately needs these payments to boost demand, to fill the gap before the spending is put in place, which is part of our investment package to boost demand through boosting expenditure on schools, housing and energy efficiency. They do not support those either. So what does the government do when there is such a large external shock? How does the government respond to prevent unemployment going through the roof?

I will tell you what a government does: it takes decisive action, and that is what this government has done. We have taken decisive action which has involved payments to pensioners. It has involved payments to families. It involves tax bonuses to many people who have not received a tax cut from those opposite. That is certainly what it involves. I guess what the member for North Sydney is saying is that they now oppose the $900 bonus that goes to single low-income earners—people they could never give a tax cut to. They now oppose the tax bonus which is going to those families without children—people who rarely got a tax cut from those opposite. That is what these questions are all about—to justify somehow their political strategy, which wants the country to simply sit and wait and have the global recession run over it, causing immense human carnage. I say to them: you should be deeply embarrassed by your approach in the House today. It is certainly not supported by any of the leading business organisations in this country; they absolutely understand the need for economic stimulus.

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