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

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question. In the middle of a global recession, one of the most important policy objectives any government can have is to deliver the maximum amount of certainty through clear-cut decisions that support jobs and that support business. That is why the government moved so quickly and decisively last year and again this year to put in place the bank guarantee and to put in place the stimulus—phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3. They have all been put in place to support business and to support employment in the face of this very savage global recession.

We have been opposed in those measures every step of the way by those opposite. They have now taken this negative approach to a new level, with the delay in the legislation for the renewable energy target, which is in the Senate today. Katie Lahey from the Business Council of Australia made a point some time ago which I think goes to the very core of how bloody-minded and how irresponsible the opposition are when it comes to the basic economic facts that we are facing and what must be done to support our people. This is what Katie Lahey had to say:

To drag on the debate whilst we have got this global financial crisis is just one more complexity that business has got to factor into its planning cycle, and for some businesses it could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

The point here is that this is very damaging for confidence in a very important sector—the renewable energy sector. We do know, for example, that the Climate Institute has projected that there are $31 billion worth of clean energy projects underway or planned in response to the government’s legislation. These projects do represent jobs, and you would have thought that those opposite could have supported such a positive measure. But yet again they have voted against assistance to households, to businesses and to community groups. They do not care about the flow-on impact, for example, in terms of solar credit. Why have they got to this completely irresponsible position? Because they are so divided—so divided between the sceptics and the others who may be able to recognise the importance of climate change—that they cannot take a decision. So it is the disunity of the coalition that is producing the delay and impacting on confidence. They cannot unify when the national interest demands it.

It is a shame because we have seen some more employment data today which indicates that stimulus is having a substantial impact in our economy. The retail employment figures, out today, are holding up much better than they are anywhere else in the world. Despite a very small decline in retail employment in recent months, today’s figures show that there are 15,250 more Australians employed in the retail sector now than in November last year—a very, very good result in the circumstances.

Let’s just compare that to what is happening elsewhere in the world. In the US there are 308,000 fewer retail jobs than there were last November.

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