Fairfax has released poll results today showing that an overwhelming 86% of voters believe that fostering employment should be the Federal Government’s focus rather than returning the budget to surplus:
…a nationwide Fairfax-Nielsen poll has found more than three-quarters of voters think fostering employment should be Canberra’s focus rather than returning the budget to surplus.
…asked to choose between ”returning to surplus” or ”creating jobs”, a decisive 86 per cent plumped for job creation. Among Labor voters the figure was 94 per cent. It was 79 per cent among Coalition voters and 92 per cent among Greens voters…
Treasurer Joe Hockey has recently stated that the budget will be configured to promote maximum jobs growth.
Certainly, the Government’s recent softening stance towards austerity suggests that it is heeding voter’s concerns, and that it acknowledges cutting expenditure sharply at this time is a risky proposition for the economy.
That said, the Government could face embarrassment in the event that the domestic economy is hit by a major external event, such as a sharp slowdown in China. After spending years smashing the former Labor Government’s GFC stimulus package, the Coalition would look highly hypocritical if it let Federal debt balloon in a bid to support jobs and growth, even if it was the correct course of action economically.
