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

The Leader of the Opposition was talking about the Reserve Bank board minutes. I would like to quote from those minutes to conclude my answer, Mr Speaker. The board observes that stimulus has already peaked and is tapering away, and it says this:

Staff estimates suggested that the impact of fiscal policy (including payments to households and other ongoing programs) on GDP growth was likely to have peaked in the June quarter and was now gradually declining.

This should be read in the context of statements that the Reserve Bank governor gave when he attended the Senate inquiry last month. He was talking about the inbuilt withdrawal of the stimulus when he had this to say:

Such an outcome would mean that fiscal and monetary policy would be acting broadly consistently, as they did when they were moved in the expansionary direction when the economy was slowing.

So the fact is the RBA is withdrawing monetary policy stimulus, the government is withdrawing fiscal policy stimulus; and both are working together.

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