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

I thank Senator McEwen for the question. The stimulus plan of the Rudd Labor government is well underway around the country and is providing jobs in local communities. The stimulus plan is working. The stimulus package is expected to raise the level of gross domestic product by 2¾ percentage points in 2009-10 and 1½ percentage points in 2010-11, supporting up to 210,000 jobs. The government’s aim was to get the stimulus money out and working quickly. We now know that more than 27,000 Australian homeowners have had the ceiling insulation actually installed in their homes. While those opposite are contemptuous about this, those people regard that as a very important way of managing their household expenditure on power bills. Twenty-seven thousand have already got the ceiling insulation in. Construction of nearly 270 new social housing dwellings is underway; 270 are already started, with more to come. Work is well advanced on repairs to and maintenance of social housing, with work already completed on over 9,000 houses. Defence Housing Australia has started 233 of the 800 houses they are building for our defence personnel.

Every school in Australia has now been allocated between $50,000 and $200,000 for maintenance and repairs. Work has started on the projects approved in round 1 for the Primary Schools for the 21st Century project, and construction has started at 300 sites to build libraries, halls and classrooms at primary schools around the country. So the stimulus is working, jobs are being created, projects are underway and there is more to come to try and protect Australia from the impacts of the world economic downturn. But the stimulus package has been delivered in local communities now, delivering jobs now.