Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline for the House the possible consequences for jobs in the commercial property sector if the Australian Business Investment Partnership legislation is not supported in the Senate?

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

I thank the honourable member for Brisbane for his question, because unlike the opposition the Rudd government is not willing to sit and wait for foreign lenders to withdraw their money. The opposition think that is fine. The Treasury has been unable to get a commitment from foreign banks operating in this country that none are withdrawing. They have been unable to give that commitment to the Treasury and, as a consequence of that, for the reasons outlined by the Prime Minister before, the country faces the real prospect that some foreign banks will withdraw from banking syndicates in this country. The consequences of that for property prices and jobs in the commercial property sector are grave. Some 150,000 people work in those sectors.

Those opposite over there cannot contain their glee. Look at the smiles on their faces—they cannot contain their glee at the discomfort the global recession is causing this country and they cannot contain their glee at the fact that foreign banks may well withdraw, threatening employment in the property sector. That is why the government has put forward what is a very responsible measure. It is not an open-ended commitment; it is a very prudent commitment. It is a commitment that has been made after seeking the best advice. It is a commitment to support commercially viable projects after independent assessment. Failure to act here will cost tens of thousands of jobs in the Australian economy—of that there is little doubt.

But of course those opposite have come into this House and repeatedly voted for higher unemployment. They came in here when the Nation Building and Jobs Plan was put through and voted against jobs. They voted for higher unemployment. And they will not accept the advice of those in the community, including the business community, that recommend that this measure is absolutely essential to confidence and employment. To quote again from the Property Council:

ABIP is an essential mechanism to inject stability and confidence into commercial property lending.

And the list goes on—with the Master Builders Association and so on. This government will not sit idly by and watch those jobs and small- and medium-sized businesses get wiped out by fluctuations in the global credit market. This is too important for the politicking and point-scoring that is coming from those on the other side of the House.

Of course in opposing this vital measure they are opposing jobs in the Australian economy, and they are doing this in the face of the worst global recession in living memory—because their approach is very simple: just let the market rip. That is what the Leader of the Opposition said when he was asked about this: leave it up to the market. We know what the market will do and we also know that the latest assessment from the IMF is that growth contracted on an annualised basis in the December quarter in the developed world by seven per cent. And those opposite say, ‘Let the market rip.’ That is a recipe for higher unemployment.

As the Prime Minister indicated before, what they are on about here is simply point-scoring. They do not care whether thousands of Australians’ jobs go to the wall; they want to celebrate a political dividend that may come from that consequence. You can see it in their glee and hear it in the moronic statements from those opposite. This issue is simply too serious for the point-scoring from those opposite. What the Leader of the Opposition has demonstrated here is that he is just an opportunist. He would rather see the commercial property sector hit the wall than see the Rudd government succeed. It is that simple, and that is why their attitude should be condemned. We will pursue this matter as far as we possibly can but unfortunately it appears that in the Senate we will not have the support of the minor parties. The jobs of all those Australians in the commercial property sector threatened by their decision will be on their heads, and shame on them.