Treasurer Wayne Swan used a rather unfortunate analogy this week to explain the Federal Government's approach to coping with the global recession as he sold his second budget. For the Pineapple Mafia (aka Queenslanders) listening to the spruik, it may have conjured a comical image from a major infrastructure bungle in Swan's home town of Brisbane.
The Goodwill Bridge which arches across the Brisbane River and links Southbank with the CBD illustrates just how difficult it is to start building a bridge from both sides of the river at once in the hope that it will join in the middle.
In this case, it did not.
Design and construction problems plagued the project which at one point saw an 80-tonne crane topple into the murky depths and costs inevitably blew out as builders struggled to put the recalcitrant bits together in 2001.
It is a cautionary tale which was obviously far from Swan's mind when he launched into his plan to start building a bridge to Australia's economic recovery from both sides of the global recession river at once.
''We hit on two strategies,'' Swan said in his post-budget address to the National Press Club. ''The best way to describe them is that we had to build a bridge across those eight months, starting on both the near and far shores at once.
''First, we asked officials to accelerate our scoping work on infrastructure to see what projects could happen most quickly to bring forward activity from later in 2009 to the first half. Building from the far shore, if you like.
''And second, find a strategy to fill in the intervening months filling the space between December 2008 building from the near shore.
''If this strategy worked, as the cash payments subsided, workers would already be out there around the country, building the new projects. The two halves of the bridge would meet in the middle.''
Let's hope the Goodwill Bridge debacle does not prove to be a model, architecturally or economically, for Swan's ideas as the consequences of misjudging this ''nation building for the recovery budget'' would be far more devastating.
This week's economic blueprint saw Labor attempt to launch a $22billion ''nation building'' plan, dubbed the biggest investment in infrastructure since the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
''This budget is forged in the fire of the most challenging global economic conditions since the Great Depression,'' Swan said. ''It is a budget that support jobs today by investing in the infrastructure we need for tomorrow.''
It includes funds for roads, rail and ports, clean energy, hospitals and health facilities, a national broadband network, and universities and research facilities. The ''nation building'' plan is laudable. The country will be left with important assets that could support economic activity after the global recession is a distant nightmare.
The Government has also earned widespread praise for funding an 18-week paid parental leave scheme from 2011, expanding tax breaks for small businesses and continuing the ''first home owners' boost'' for an extra six months. The pension will also increase by $32.49 a week for singles and $10.14 a week for couples from September 20 but the Government will change the rules in a bid to diffuse a ''demographic time bomb''. Australians will only receive the age pension after their 67th birthday by 2023 under the Government's plan to progressively lift the qualifying age from 65.
''I know it will bring some pain and angst to many,'' Swan said. ''I don't take this decision lightly, it won't be popular, in fact, it'll be very unpopular.''
But the pain will be delayed. In reality, the budget only inflicts paper cuts rather than deep wounds despite the Government's tough talk in the lead-up to Tuesday.
The Government will claw back about $22.6billion through changes to family payments and superannuation concessions, which will affect higher income earners. It will also cap benefits paid under the Medicare safety net for services such as obstetrics and IVF as well as impose a means test on private health insurance rebates.
In both cases, the Government has broken election commitments and faces the most resistance when it attempts to pass the bills through a hostile Senate. The Opposition has condemned changes to the private health insurance rebate as well as economic figures contained in the budget.
The economy will shrink by 0.5 per cent and the deficit will balloon to $57.6billion in 2009-10 up from $32.1 billion this financial year. Net debt will peak at $188billion. Revenue will slump by $210billion over the forward estimates and unemployment will hit 8.5 per cent in 2010-11, which means about one million people will be looking for work.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and treasury spokesman Joe Hockey attacked the budget for delivering a ''dismal trifecta'' record spending, a record deficit and a severe increase in unemployment.
Hockey said, ''The budget relies on rubbery figures projecting what would be an unprecedented future economic boom to show a path back to surplus. Having blown all the proceeds of the last mining boom, Labor is betting the house on another upswing that hasn't even begun yet.''
The Opposition's queries are legitimate given the global economic conditions have already rapidly changed, making forecasts fluctuate wildly. But the Government dismisses the questions as an attack on the integrity and independence of Treasury. It's a classic deflection.
The Government is putting pressure on the Senate to pass the budget in its entirety, warning the bottom line will be affected if it fails to do so. The Opposition, Greens, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Family First Senator Steve Fielding have qualms and deserve time to scrutinise the budget.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not ruled out an early election if the Senate plays hardball and ''cherry picks'' initiatives. He could be tempted to head early to the ballot box before the unemployment rate skyrockets and to take advantage of Labor's healthy lead in the opinion polls. Rudd would probably win because voters are loathe to change governments during dire times. But the electorate could also mete out a bit of punishment and leave Rudd with an even more hostile Senate because as Swan concedes ''the very last thing the economy and this country need is an election''.
Danielle Cronin is Political Correspondent.
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