Stimulus package still working:government

The Federal government says its stimulus package is still plugging holes, that the global economic crisis has left in the Australian economy.

The Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, said that is reflected in new capital spending figures, that have just been released.

These show that capital spending in Australia fell by 3.9 per cent in the September quarter, on seasonally adjusted figures.

Mr Swan said the third stage of the government’s package, which involves investment in infrastructure, like new school libraries, is helping to offset that soft performance.

And he said that infrastructure spending would remain “very important” to the Australian economy in the year ahead.

Mr Swan said Australia had done better than any other advanced economy, after the global economic crisis struck last September.

The government’s stimulus packages had helped. So had the resilience of the Australian people.

“I think all Australians can be proud of what we have all achieved,” Mr Swan said at question time in parliament.

But he also warned that  there are still challenges ahead.

Mr Swan said unemployment would keep rising for a while yet.

The Opposition’s Treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, then asked  how much interest the government now expects to pay, before the extra debt incurred, in the wake of the crisis, is repaid by 2022.

Mr Swan responded by accusing the opposition of running a standard scare campaign, on the debt issue.