Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

He says it is not the greatest recession Australia has faced, and he is quite right—because the government has acted. The opposition say it is not that bad. ‘You didn’t need the stimulus package,’ they say. ‘It’s not that bad.’ That is their strategy. But, because the government has acted, the Reserve Bank has acted and Australia’s employers and employees have acted flexibly, Australia is getting through this crisis—and don’t the opposition hate every minute of it! This was their ticket back to the easy life. This was their ticket back to the big white cars. This was their ticket back to government. The born-to-rule party said, ‘We know what; we’ll ride this recession back into government,’ and they hate the fact that the Australian Labor government has responded decisively in this crisis. They hate every minute of it. But we will continue to respond and we will continue to show that leadership, because we do care about the human impact.

The Secretary to the Treasury yesterday made a speech. It was a good speech. It received quite a bit of coverage. But there was one bit of his speech which has not received much coverage. He said this:

Economic slow downs—especially recessions—are costly: capital lies idle; unemployment increases; there is a loss of skills in the workforce; and living standards fall. Economic recessions can also have significant negative impacts on self-esteem and health, and increase the risk of poverty. The costs of recessions are exacerbated if the economy remains below potential for a significant period of time.

He is dead right. Recessions do have a very real human impact. The people of Australia look to the Australian government to cushion that impact, to keep unemployment as low as it humanly can be. When unemployment rises around the world, the people of Australia look to the government to keep Australia’s unemployment rate as low as it humanly and possibly can be. We will continue to do that. The opposition has yet again engaged in a scare campaign. The opposition has yet again engaged in cheap political opportunism. The Australian people know that the real impact of recession is on Australia’s people. The human deficit is very important to them. They have passed judgment on the opposition’s scare campaign on the fiscal deficit, and they will continue to pass judgment on its complete lack of regard, lack of care and callous approach to the human deficit of unemployment that it appears to be willing to allow to continue and to worsen.

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