Turnbull floats idea of national infrastructure bank
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The Federal Opposition has raised the prospect of the Government setting up a bank.
The Government has set up three infrastructure funds and says bringing forward that spending could help stimulate the economy.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has asked the Prime Minister if he has a plan to set up a national infrastructure bank.
He suggests the Commonwealth would borrow billions of dollars and then lend the money to the states.
"All carefully structured in a way that would not impact on the level of the Commonwealth's final budget result," he said.
"How will the Prime Minister assure the House that his new Labor bank will not go the same way as the catastrophic Labor banks in Victoria and South Australia?"
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did not say if the Government would set up a bank, but he says the Government does intend to fund infrastructure in a new way.
"We will embrace a new approach for the national Government to invest in infrastructure, to invest in health infrastructure, to invest in education infrastructure as well," he said.
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