kerry o"brien questions brand abott, page-145

Hi grantmac, there were mistakes made in implementation strategy but not in the actual type of stimulus. If the money went just to one area of the economy such as roads it would still have been limiting in that such projects take ages and do not encompass the whole of the Australian community or businesses.

The $900 went throughout the economy and maintained jobs during a time unemployment looked like getting out of hand. Business across the board benefited as did pensioners, carers, veterans and most taxpayers. The fact that we are at the forefront of economic growth is testimony that the strategy worked as an interim measure until overseas considerations improved. That has happened as far as China is concerned and our economy avoided recession and continues in growth phase.

The public will be reminded of this before the election and I believe it will swing Labor back to where they were a month or so ago. In a winning position. It will happen quicker if the Government increases the mining tax threshold above 6%. This would cause mining stocks to take off again and dissipate much of the current concerns. Whether the Government does this remains to be seen.

cheers