Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery, Senator Arbib. Can the minister inform the Senate of the details of the Commonwealth Coordinator-General’s progress report to 31 December 2009? How is the stimulus achieving its aim of supporting the Australian economy, and is the minister aware of modelling that indicates the economy would be in recession without it? Can the minister inform the Senate of the number of times the opposition voted against the stimulus, and what would be the effect on the economy if the stimulus were stopped?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Cameron for that question. The Liberal and National party senators on the other side of the chamber moan and groan when they hear a question about the stimulus package because deep down they know that they were wrong to oppose it 12 months ago and they know they are wrong to oppose it today. The Australian public will remember that they voted against it six times in this chamber. If we stopped the stimulus right now, the economy would be whiplashed into recession. One hundred thousand Australians would lose their jobs. Thousands of small businesses would fold or go bankrupt. Tradespeople, apprentices and contractors would go bankrupt, or lose their jobs, and be left in the lurch. Thousands of schools would be left without completed facilities. Some 5,000 schools across the country would miss out on Building the Education Revolution programs if Liberal and National party senators ever got control of government.

It is now 12 months since the stimulus package got underway and this program has required a national effort. It brought federal, state and local government together, along with businesses, unions and community groups, pulling together to support Australian jobs and businesses. One year on, it is clear that the stimulus has worked and continues to work. When you drive past your local school and see the building work happening on the school premises, that is the stimulus at work. Seventy one per cent of the stimulus is now underway and over half of the $42 billion package has been spent supporting jobs and laying the foundation for growth. (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. For those projects which have yet to see on-site works, what would be the effect of the current Leader of the Opposition, Mr Tony Abbott’s, plan to stop the stimulus? Is the minister aware of a major contradiction between comments by Mr Hockey that the stimulus has worked and by Senator Joyce today claiming that it has no effect?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The effect is clear and Treasury has stated it: if you stop the stimulus 100,000 jobs will go, and we know that is what Senator Joyce wants. At the Press Club today, he said that the stimulus has had no effect. Not only does the Treasury disagree with him, and not only do the Reserve Bank, the IMF and the G20 disagree with him, but everyone else disagrees with him. Even his own party, including the shadow Treasurer, Mr Hockey, disagrees with him: Mr Hockey says that of course it is going to have an impact. There are jobs at stake here: the Master Builders disagree with Senator Joyce when they say that the stimulus is supporting 50,000 jobs in the construction sector. Hansen Yuncken say they have a team of 162 people working on the program and they estimate 3,500 jobs will be created. Davis Langdon in Queensland talk about thousands of jobs. The evidence is clear— (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of how much of the stimulus has been expended? Can the minister also inform the Senate about progress in delivering the stimulus? Further, how is the stimulus helping to protect the skills base of Australia?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Across the plan, almost 50,000 projects have been approved, almost 35,000 projects have commenced and more than 8,300 projects are now completed. Twenty-two billion dollars of the stimulus package has been spent.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where did the money come from?

Government Senators:

Government senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister is entitled to be heard in silence on both sides.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is not just money going on schools and this is not just money going on housing; it is money that is going into infrastructure, something that those on the opposite side of the chamber ignored for 12 years. The money is going on infrastructure—17 major rail lines and 14 major roads. It is going on future infrastructure, which will increase the productive capacity of this country, something that you do not care about because, when the Howard government was in office, productivity went backwards. That is a fact: productivity went backwards. Again, just to show the erratic nature of Senator Joyce, last night he said that this country is not out of the woods yet— (Time expired)