Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies, Mr Deputy President; I appreciate your advice, as always, in these things and I shall continue to address the chair. The reason we are facing the difficulties we are at the moment is that the former government failed to spot the problems that were on the horizon in the economy. There is no doubt that at the moment the world is facing the worst financial crisis that we have faced in modern times.

I asked the library to get some information on the last serious economic crisis of this nature and, of course, it was the Great Depression. I asked them to give us an indication of the triggers at that time. They have summarised it with three particular issues. The first was a fall in the export prices and sales. We are starting to see that now with the collapse in commodity prices and the effect that that is going to have on the mining sector. Secondly, they said a fall in overseas lending due to a reduction in government capital spending. Of course, one of the major features of this current crisis is the freezing of capital markets, so banks are too frightened to lend to one another because they are not sure if they are going to fail. So many banks around the world have failed, and the banks have stopped lending to one another. The third thing was a fall in residential construction.

We cannot do a lot about commodity prices—that is pretty much out of our control and will be dependent, particularly for Australia, on how successfully the Chinese and the Indian governments can deal with these issues. But we can control the other two issues, and that is exactly what the Rudd Labor government has sought to do on this occasion. I think the reaction of the senators opposite is an indication that they have been surprised at the speed and the scale of the Rudd government’s Economic Security Strategy.

Instead of lining the pockets of big business or lining the pockets of the rich, what Labor has done on this occasion is what you would expect the Labor government to do in the circumstances—they have redirected the resources of the Australian economy to the people who need it most: working families, low- to middle-income families, pensioners and people who are trying to buy their first home. When the history of what some people call the ‘panic of 2008’ is written, people will look back and see that the decisive action that the Rudd Labor government took on this occasion will be one of the crucial factors in turning around this crisis, stopping Australia from going into a recession or, worse, depression and directing the money to where it is needed most.

What have we done? What are the key features of this Economic Security Strategy? Firstly, it is to provide relief for Australia’s four million pensioners, carers, seniors and veterans. On 8 December, they will receive a total of $4.8 billion worth of grants. Single pensioners will receive $1,400, couples will receive $2,100 and carers will receive $1,000 for each person they are responsible for caring for. For 12 years the Liberal Party had an opportunity to do pensioners—(Time expired)