5 years ago
GOVERNMENT MUST FAST TRACK BUILDING PROJECTS
CATHERINE KING MP
Scott Morrison has ignored more than a dozen warnings from Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe to lift investment in rail and roads to prevent Australia’s economic slowdown.
Despite Dr Lowe’s calls for the Government to do its bit to boost economic and jobs growth, only 30 per cent of all infrastructure projects announced in this year’s Budget will be spent over the next four years.
With wages stagnant and annual economic growth stuck at 1.8 per cent, the Government must focus on bringing forward building projects to get the economy moving again.
The right rail and road projects will create jobs and economic activity and stimulate growth.
There are projects all around the nation, particularly in regional Australia, that could be brought forward. Indeed, State Treasurers have indicated they are ready to work with the Federal Government to fast track investment.
There are only so many times the Reserve Bank can cut interest rates to stimulate demand. As Dr Lowe said in a speech in Darwin on Tuesday: “We will achieve better outcomes for society as a whole if the various arms of public policy are all pointing in the same direction".
Dr Lowe has been warning the Government of the need for greater infrastructure investment ever since he became RBA Governor in September of 2016.
Just days after his appointment Dr Lowe said: “Better transportation infrastructure would not just have benefits in the short term for the economy, but it would make a material contribution to improving the lives of the people we and you serve’’. He has repeated this call on multiple occasions in speeches and before parliamentary committee hearings.
It is time the Government listened to the experts, instead of pretending that sluggish economic growth and stagnant wages are not a problem.
Australians know there is a problem. They know their bills are growing faster than their wages and are worried about where the economy is headed.
Despite Dr Lowe’s calls for the Government to do its bit to boost economic and jobs growth, only 30 per cent of all infrastructure projects announced in this year’s Budget will be spent over the next four years.
With wages stagnant and annual economic growth stuck at 1.8 per cent, the Government must focus on bringing forward building projects to get the economy moving again.
The right rail and road projects will create jobs and economic activity and stimulate growth.
There are projects all around the nation, particularly in regional Australia, that could be brought forward. Indeed, State Treasurers have indicated they are ready to work with the Federal Government to fast track investment.
There are only so many times the Reserve Bank can cut interest rates to stimulate demand. As Dr Lowe said in a speech in Darwin on Tuesday: “We will achieve better outcomes for society as a whole if the various arms of public policy are all pointing in the same direction".
Dr Lowe has been warning the Government of the need for greater infrastructure investment ever since he became RBA Governor in September of 2016.
Just days after his appointment Dr Lowe said: “Better transportation infrastructure would not just have benefits in the short term for the economy, but it would make a material contribution to improving the lives of the people we and you serve’’. He has repeated this call on multiple occasions in speeches and before parliamentary committee hearings.
It is time the Government listened to the experts, instead of pretending that sluggish economic growth and stagnant wages are not a problem.
Australians know there is a problem. They know their bills are growing faster than their wages and are worried about where the economy is headed.