Thread by @CatherineKingMP

Prime Minister Morrison is wilfully ignoring the RBA Governor’s calls to bring forward infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy.

A thread 👇

#auspol

On seven occasions since the election the RBA Governor has urged the Federal Government to use infrastructure investment to stimulate our sluggish economy, including on the weekend.

smh.com.au/business/banki…

In #qt today, the PM selectively quoted RBA Governor’s evidence before House Economics Committee last month but failed to read the next line:

"It's up to the government to choose from the options. People ask me about what the options are, and I lay them out, and people can ignore that if they want to." - RBA Governor Lowe, 9 August 2019

With an increasingly fragile world economy, Governor Lowe then clearly explained to the Committee the limits of monetary policy:

"We can play our part at the central bank, and we're doing as much as we think is responsible, but we could face difficult circumstances if the international environment goes south, and there's very little the central banks can do about that." - RBA Governor Lowe, 9 August 2019

Governor Lowe then detailed to the Committee that in the event of a global downturn, we will need all arms of public policy to support the Australian economy:

"We could ease monetary policy further... in that environment, I would expect and hope for some fiscal support as well, but I'm not going to lay out what the specific circumstances are or what that support would look like." - RBA Governor Lowe, 9 August 2019

Later in the hearing, Governor Lowe encouraged the Federal Government to look at the possibility of a series of smaller projects across the country:

"There is scope to do more across the country, particularly in regional areas – maintenance of rail, road and bridges and some expansion of regional infrastructure - because people tell us at the regional level there is still spare capacity." - RBA Governor Lowe, 9 August 2019

With an increasingly fragile world economy, Prime Minister Morrison is wilfully ignoring the RBA Governor’s expert evidence on the need for a real plan to fast track infrastructure investment.

Good governments invest in infrastructure to improve the lives of all Australians and boost our economy – as Labor did in Government.

This third-term Liberal Nationals Government must change course and start taking infrastructure investment seriously.