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Stimulus plan 'may have been different' under Coalition

Posted October 16, 2008 00:35:00
Updated October 16, 2008 08:06:00

Reveal the Treasury advice: Julie Bishop.

Reveal the Treasury advice: Julie Bishop. (ABC: Phillip Nyakpo)

Opposition treasury spokeswoman Julie Bishop says the Coalition might have designed the Federal Government's economic stimulus package differently if it were in government.

The Coalition is supporting the principle of the Government's $10.4-billion spending plan, but still wants the Government to release its economic advice on the package.

Ms Bishop says if the Coalition was in government, they might have considered other design options.

"We may well have looked at another composition, we might have looked at other issues, we might have looked at tax cuts," she said.

"We might have reconsidered the first home owner matter, we might have got information as to whether or not this would be an inflationary package, and if you calibrated it another way."

Ms Bishop has repeated her call that the government must release the economic data used to work out the package.

"And how these policies will impact on inflation, on interest rates for example," she said.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says that information will come in the mid-year economic outlook next month, but he says the scheme is designed to protect everyone in Australia from the effects of the global financial turmoil.

"What this is all about is avoiding the worse consequence of what could happen," he said.

But his advice is that growth in the Australian economy should remain positive.

Tags: business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, government-and-politics, federal-government, international-financial-crisis, australia

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