Don’t let anyone tell you this government didn’t throw money at a problem.
Government finance statistics out this week show a monumental rise in expenses, creating a chasm between revenue and expenses. JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments have been enormous. As have the twice-paid $750 shot-in-the-arm to pensioners.
Now, without question, they have design problems at the margin — casual employees, universities, etc — and phasing them out will be hard. But as large bore pipelines gushing $60 billion into the economy, they have been unparalleled.
One almost suspects the federal government has spent more than they would have if they realised how well the virus would be controlled in much of Australia. But even if it stopped now, the benefits of this Keynesian splurge will be felt for some time: monies being socked away in bank accounts now will be doled out slowly later, propping up household budgets and Australian businesses.
Truly? These debts are only debts because they are costed as loans. Stimulus won’t come from tax cuts etc. It comes from giving spenders money to spend (God forbid) or investment in infrastructure which returns money to the domestic economy. Most of this needs to be Federal.
Investing in train/tram/ferry purchases may save on the initial cost but puts the money offshore in dollars at the current parity against the provider. Building here keeps ALL or most money within our borders and provides not just jobs in the industries involved but a TRUE trickle down in ancillary suppliers. This comes down to State level
Think of this as an “investment” : how they’re going to use this as an excuse to recoup their drunken sailor largesse and how we plebs are going to be paying for it.
What a lot of twaddle, Jason. This government has propped up those who they believe vote for them, and the rest can go jump!
Not to mention the extreme rorting that is going on with jobkeeper, where unsurprisingly, there is money ‘left over’ from jobkeeper, in some businesses, to pay the usual eye-watering bonuses to executives and indulge in increased dividends to share holders.
Also, it has been reported that far from spending the $200 billion you speak of, the actual amount is closer to $60 billion. Where is the money for social housing and local/national infrastructure building/repair that would benefit the whole country…not just those at the top? And to make matters worse, they now propose to give tax cuts to the already well-off, thus reducing the revenue needed to pay for those who need it most. Guess they can just starve, as millions of jobseeker recipients return to life below the poverty line.
So that is all okay according to you and Crikey? Get a life!!