This article scrutinizes claims regarding government spending made by politicians and the business press during the Australian federal election campaign. It emphasizes the need for fact-checking, particularly regarding unsubstantiated claims by Peter Dutton and the business press, and highlights the complexities of assessing government spending efficiency. The article also explores the political dynamics surrounding discussions of government spending and challenges simplistic arguments about its impact on the economy.
It seems government spending will be an issue we hear a lot of in this year’s federal election campaign. But remember this: much of what’s said will be influenced by partisanship, ideology, self-interest and populism.
Dutton has been laying it on thick. When he made Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price shadow minister for “government efficiency”, he claimed the Albanese government “has spent money like drunken sailors”.So what spending would he cut? He’ll tell us later. We do know, however, that Albanese & Co have increased the number of federal public servants by 36,000.
Ending or reducing these policy-caused delays explains most of Albanese’s increased government spending. Sound like waste to you? And get this: as a proportion of national income , our spending by all levels of government is more than 4 percentage points lower than the average for all OECD countries. Remind you of a drunken sailor, does it?
If we left health, education, law and order and all the rest completely to the private sector, do you reckon we’d have an economy that was bigger or smaller than we have today?
GOVERNMENT SPENDING ELECTION CAMPAIGN FACT-CHECKING ECONOMIC POLICY AUSTRALIA
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