Diligent, Peter Costello raised three unique taxes/levies to pay for those commitments (gun buyback, timor & ansett).
I'm a bit hazy on Timor but Im fairly certain that too was funded by a levy.
As for the SE Asia Financial Crisis, what proactive measures did Costello have to take? I cant remember that far back.... did anyone lose their jobs? Did a bevy of corporates like Babcock n Brown etc go bankrupt?
