Securing our Future with Responsible Economic Management
Labor's vision
The Rudd Labor Government supports Australians through tough economic times while building for the nation’s long-term future.
That is why we are committed to:
- Managing the economy in the interests of working families and all Australians, by pursuing policies to deliver sustainable growth with low inflation into the future.
- Investing in the long-term drivers of economic growth, in skills, nation building infrastructure and innovation, to strengthen the competitiveness of the Australian economy.
- Stepping in when the market fails to cushion the economy and support Australian jobs.
- Meeting our fiscal strategy to return the budget to surplus as the economy recovers from the global economic crisis.
- Converting Australia’s relative success during the global recession into enduring gains for all Australians well into the future.
These actions will increase the resilience and competitiveness of the Australian economy, while ensuring the Government can deliver high quality essential services such as health and education to all Australian families.
Since the Government came to office, we have faced a meltdown of the global financial system, the worst global recession in three quarters of a century and a collapse in global trade and industrial production.
This crisis was a direct result of the neo-liberal ideology of the previous Government, who were content to sit back and let the market rip.
At the same time, they squandered the proceeds of the terms of trade boom, while neglecting to invest in the long term drivers of economic growth.
In the 2007 election, we committed to responsible economic management, and to promoting fairness in the Australian community. We committed ourselves to tackling the skills shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks, and acting on Australia’s environment and economic challenges.
Since then the economic circumstances have changed. But our commitments have not.
Key Policy Points
The key points of the Australian Government policy include:
- Investing in infrastructure and skills needed for future productivity and economic growth;
- Ensuring the stability of our financial markets;
- Providing timely, targeted and temporary stimulus to cushion the economy and support jobs; and
- Returning the budget to surplus.
Some Key Achievements
In the face of the deepest global recession in three quarters of century, the Government took early and decisive action to cushion the Australian economy and support Australian jobs:
- We’ve protected Australia’s financial markets from the global credit crunch by introducing a government guarantee on bank deposits and wholesale borrowing.
- We’ve supported the economy by providing urgent fiscal stimulus, while the private sector went into retreat. 70 per cent of the stimulus is going towards nation building infrastructure.
- Through these actions, we have ensured the Australian economy has been the best performing advanced economy in the world, with stronger growth, lower debt and lower deficits than any of the major advanced economies.
- These actions have meant that Australia has avoided recession – the only major advanced economy to do so – and kept 200,000 more Australians in jobs.
- We are playing a leading role in developing the international response to the global recession through the G20, to repair the global financial system and promote trade and investment.
- We are taking responsible decisions to return the budget to surplus as the economy recovers and replace the $170 billion collapse in tax revenues caused by the global recession. The Government is also acting now for the long term interests of Australians.
- We are investing in infrastructure projects that provide job opportunities now and the roads, rail, ports and broadband networks we need for the future.
- We are delivering the Jobs and Training Compact in partnership with employers, local government, non-profit organisations and communities.
- We are addressing the unsustainable spending pressures created by the previous government through reforms to the provision of pensions, private health insurance and student income support.
- We are conducting a root and branch review of Australia’s tax system
- We are creating a seamless national economy by harmonising the different state and territory regulatory regimes across 27 regulatory hotspots.
More Information
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