Treasurer Jim Chalmers credits government spending with preventing a recession and supporting a 'soft landing' for the Australian economy. He announced plans for new policies before the next election, including savings and tax measures to help households. Chalmers defended the government's approach, rejecting calls for 'slash and burn' budget cuts.
Federal spending has spared Australians from a recession and will help ensure a “soft landing” for the economy in the new year, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared in a pledge to unveil major new policies before the next election.
“It’s pretty clear that if we had taken a lot of the free advice we’ve been getting over the last 12 to 18 months, Australia would be in recession,” he said in an exclusive interview with this masthead. “There will be more savings, there will be more restraint and there will be more announcements but it remains to be seen whether they all net out,” he said.
Asked if he would cut spending if he becomes prime minister, Dutton said he would make announcements closer to the election, although the Coalition has already signalled deep cuts in the federal public service.“It’s not austerity, but it is restraint in the growth of spending that matters so much,” he said, without naming targets for Coalition cuts in recurrent outlays.
While inflation is tipped to remain around 2.75 per cent, the economy is forecast to expand by 1.75 per cent this year. Over the past 12 months, the economy grew by just 0.8 per cent with GDP per capita falling for a record seventh consecutive quarter.Figures released on Thursday showed New Zealand in a deep recession, contracting by 1 per cent in the September quarter after a 1.1 per cent fall in the June quarter. Government spending cuts proved a major factor in the downturn.
“The textbook definition of a soft landing is the combination of indicators that we have in our economy.”The nation has created 393,000 jobs this year with a large majority in the so-called “non-market sector”, including much of the health, public safety and teaching workforces.
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