Turnbull says Opposition will block stimulus package

The Opposition will vote against the Government’s $42 billion financial stimulus package, Malcolm Turnbull says. He says the top three priorities should be “jobs, jobs, jobs” as he criticised the scale and size of the stimulus package announced yesterday, and said that it did not contain effective measures.

Turnbull pointed out the package will not assist small business owners in retaining jobs, a point made by SmartCompany yesterday. He says there should be more support for small business, including ways to lower the cost of employment.

“The accelerated investment allowance proposed has some merit, but a small-business which is struggling with declining revenues would be better off with additional cash flow that it can deploy as it sees fit. We want to discuss practical measures with the government that will put cash into the hands of small businesses,” Turnbull told Parliament this morning.

“One proposal which we have seen and which has considerable merit would be for the Commonwealth to cover, for a period, a portion of the superannuation guarantee levy. Appropriately costed within the framework of a more prudent stimulus, this would provide support for small business, lower the cost of employment and provide an incentive across the board to every small business.”

Turnbull says he agrees that it is time for the Government to invest more than usual. But he argues that a more prudent approach should be taken and that it should not fire all its bullets now. He says he is concerned that the sheer size of the package will have an impact on the budget for generations.

“Someone has to stand up for fiscal discipline,” Turnbull told the House of Representatives this morning. “Someone has to stand up for levels of debt for future generations.”

He says that while the stimulus package with its cash hand outs will be popular, bringing forward cash cuts scheduled for 1 July would be more effective.

“Otherwise we are wasting taxpayers’ money at a time when we may find ourselves in greater need of these resources in times to come,” he says.

Turnbull called Rudd “arrogant” for not sitting down with the Opposition to discuss the package and the economic situation. He complained that the deadline to have the legislation passed by tomorrow would not allow sufficient time for scrutiny.

The Government will now have to rely on the Greens, independant Nick Xenophon and Family First Steve Fielding in the Senate to get the package across the line.

But they want more time to look at the detail. Xenophon says passing the package would be like buying a $42 billion car “without having a good look under the bonnet”.

What do you think? Should the Opposition block the package? Send in your thoughts to feedback@smartcompany.com.au