The latest ABS data today has confirmed capital expenditure collapsed again in the September quarter, entrenching the crisis in business investment that existed well before the pandemic.
 
The capex crunch dragged on growth before the recession and now risks jeopardising Australia’s fragile recovery.
 
Capital expenditure has declined in seven out the last eight quarters but this crisis in investment has been largely ignored.
 
Capex is now over 40 per cent lower than it was when the Liberals and Nationals came to office, with more than 80 per cent of this decline occurring before the COVID-19 crisis.
 
According to the ABS, private new capital expenditure fell by 3.0 per cent in the September quarter, to be down 13.8 per cent over the year.
 
The Morrison Government was complacent about Australia’s economic challenges before this crisis, and has failed to produce the proper plan that Australian industry needs to invest with confidence and kick-start the recovery.
 
Without the jobs and economic plan that Australians, businesses and communities need and deserve, the only lasting legacies of this crisis could be higher unemployment for longer and a trillion dollars of debt.
 
THURSDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2020