Page 729 - Week 02 - Thursday, 12 February 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
concreters, plasterers and painters? For Canberra schools, in both the government and non-government sectors? For public housing? How will the Liberal Party vote for these people? I know how the Labor Party will vote.
Let us not be in any doubt about the scale of the challenge we face, even with this stimulus package. Almost every major advanced economy in the world is in recession. The United States is in recession. The United Kingdom is in recession. I think every nation in the European Union is in recession. Japan is in recession. Hong Kong is in recession. Singapore is in recession. New Zealand is in recession. And the outlook here at home is for declining commodity markets, tight credit markets, slowing economic growth and the return of the scourge of hard-working Australians, unemployment.
But at this time Australia is not in recession. Australia’s economic growth is forecast to slow to one per cent in 2008-09 and three-quarters of a per cent in 2009-10. The national unemployment rate is expected to rise to 5.5 per cent by June 2009, in four months time, and to seven per cent by June 2010.
The question that each of us has to ask ourselves is what we did personally and collectively as a parliament to meet the challenge. It is a question others will ask us in the months ahead.
Let us be clear about something else. What we debate today is a $350 million investment in our city, our economy, our jobs, our schools, our roads, our town. How can we even be thinking that this is an offer we need to think about? How can we look a single builder, a single school principal, in the eye and say—and this is what the Liberal Party are saying, “No, we, the Liberal Party, think you would be better off without this money.” In signing up to deliver this unprecedented one-off funding package from the commonwealth, we need to ensure that the ACT is able to roll out a record number of new capital works projects for our schools, for public housing, here in the territory.
The direct benefit of the stimulus package for the ACT government is in the order of $350 million. This includes $229 million in upgrades to every building in every primary school in the ACT, in both the government and the non-government sectors, and $102 million for social housing. These are substantial figures for the ACT economy but, more importantly, these are dollars that will flow into the ACT community, along with the ACT share of the $20 billion of personal tax bonus and energy efficient home packages payable to eligible ACT households.
The $252 million to be expended on the construction of new defence housing will also benefit the ACT, due to the relatively large presence of defence force personnel here in the capital. Again, another benefit to the ACT economy, to ACT households, to ACT families and for ACT jobs! Commonwealth expenditure on road maintenance and road safety will also benefit the ACT. It is estimated that the ACT will receive an additional $1 million for this part of the package. A tax bonus of up to $950 for eligible working Australians will also provide a boost to consumption in the ACT and have a positive flow-on effect for employment. Further bonuses which will impact positively on consumption include the $950 single income family bonus for eligible families and a $950 back-to-school bonus for eligible school-age children,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .