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Authors: Sarah Ferguson
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weekendâyouâre going to get all of that negative publicity. Be aware of it. If you donât have the stomach for that, then we can always have a good recession.
Julia Gillard remembered the discussions.
The environment was so much focused on the economics that I donât really recall sitting around canvassing the politics. I think we all sort of inherently knew that there was this potential liability for Labor.
Rudd had sold himself as an economic conservative, but the unravelling of the international financial markets set him and his government on a course radically different to the one theyâd plotted on reaching office. They settled on a $10.4 billion package, with cash payments for families and pensioners, and an increase to the First Home Owner Grant.
We knew, and I knew, that the Budget was going to go into deficit anyway, so my argument was simply this: itâs better we,the Australian Government, based on the advice of the Treasury, do everything possible to rescue this economy and at best, maybe, just maybe, avoiding a recession, which no-one at that stage thought was possible.
The other equally pressing question to be resolved was whether to provide bank guarantees. On Sunday morning, Henryâs advice to Kevin Rudd was not to wait.
Before the meeting started, I took him aside and I just said to him, âYou need to be aware of this and I donât think youâve got the luxury of waiting. I think you have to make an announcement this afternoon, before the banks open on Monday morning. Monday morning could be too lateâ.
Swanâs chief of staff, Chris Barrett, said the decisions the group made in early October were crucial to restoring confidence in the short term.
If you want to look at the thing that really made the difference, that first bit of stimulus made probably about 60 per cent of it ⦠We were out with the announcements barely four weeks later [after Lehman], and you can see how quickly the consumer and business confidence jumped back up. I give a great deal of credit to the PM and to the Treasurer then. They really understood the need to get into peopleâs heads, and in particular, get into peopleâs heads before the Christmas shopping season.
Fortunately, the filming schedule for
The Killing Season
coincided with Christmas. Louie Eroglu filmed every Christmas scene he could find: shoppers, department store trees, illuminated cathedrals, inflatable Santas waving wildly outside car dealerships on Sydneyâs Parramatta Road. This became a scene to describe Christmas stimulus spending.
Ken Henry paid tribute to Ruddâs decision-making over the stimulus.
Ken Henry (KH): At the end of the day somebody has to make the judgement, and in the political system that we have, that person has to be the Prime Minister. It canât be anybody else.
SF: And he made that decision?
KH: He made that decision. I said to him subsequently that I thought his instincts were better than mine, and I still think that.
CHAPTER 4
A HARD INTERVIEW
I have no particular taste for the personal brutalisation of politics, none whatsoever.
Kevin Rudd
T HE INTERVIEW WITH Kevin Rudd in Boston in October 2014 didnât go smoothly. Rudd is a hard interview. His timing can be brilliant, with moments of pure vaudeville, part pastor, part PT Barnum, but he can also be turgid, using too many words to demonstrate knowledge rather than share it. (When I asked Rudd about the criticism that he didnât understand the union movement, he gave me a lecture on the Tolpuddle Martyrs.) Itâs never clear which version of Rudd you are going to encounter.
New South Wales Senator Sam Dastyari suggested there are a number of different Kevins.
The key with Kevin is youâve got to know which Kevin youâre dealing with before you walk into the room. Are you dealing with workaholic Kevin? Are you dealing with charming Kevin? Are you dealing with angry Kevin? Are you
Julia Gillard remembered the discussions.
The environment was so much focused on the economics that I donât really recall sitting around canvassing the politics. I think we all sort of inherently knew that there was this potential liability for Labor.
Rudd had sold himself as an economic conservative, but the unravelling of the international financial markets set him and his government on a course radically different to the one theyâd plotted on reaching office. They settled on a $10.4 billion package, with cash payments for families and pensioners, and an increase to the First Home Owner Grant.
We knew, and I knew, that the Budget was going to go into deficit anyway, so my argument was simply this: itâs better we,the Australian Government, based on the advice of the Treasury, do everything possible to rescue this economy and at best, maybe, just maybe, avoiding a recession, which no-one at that stage thought was possible.
The other equally pressing question to be resolved was whether to provide bank guarantees. On Sunday morning, Henryâs advice to Kevin Rudd was not to wait.
Before the meeting started, I took him aside and I just said to him, âYou need to be aware of this and I donât think youâve got the luxury of waiting. I think you have to make an announcement this afternoon, before the banks open on Monday morning. Monday morning could be too lateâ.
Swanâs chief of staff, Chris Barrett, said the decisions the group made in early October were crucial to restoring confidence in the short term.
If you want to look at the thing that really made the difference, that first bit of stimulus made probably about 60 per cent of it ⦠We were out with the announcements barely four weeks later [after Lehman], and you can see how quickly the consumer and business confidence jumped back up. I give a great deal of credit to the PM and to the Treasurer then. They really understood the need to get into peopleâs heads, and in particular, get into peopleâs heads before the Christmas shopping season.
Fortunately, the filming schedule for
The Killing Season
coincided with Christmas. Louie Eroglu filmed every Christmas scene he could find: shoppers, department store trees, illuminated cathedrals, inflatable Santas waving wildly outside car dealerships on Sydneyâs Parramatta Road. This became a scene to describe Christmas stimulus spending.
Ken Henry paid tribute to Ruddâs decision-making over the stimulus.
Ken Henry (KH): At the end of the day somebody has to make the judgement, and in the political system that we have, that person has to be the Prime Minister. It canât be anybody else.
SF: And he made that decision?
KH: He made that decision. I said to him subsequently that I thought his instincts were better than mine, and I still think that.
CHAPTER 4
A HARD INTERVIEW
I have no particular taste for the personal brutalisation of politics, none whatsoever.
Kevin Rudd
T HE INTERVIEW WITH Kevin Rudd in Boston in October 2014 didnât go smoothly. Rudd is a hard interview. His timing can be brilliant, with moments of pure vaudeville, part pastor, part PT Barnum, but he can also be turgid, using too many words to demonstrate knowledge rather than share it. (When I asked Rudd about the criticism that he didnât understand the union movement, he gave me a lecture on the Tolpuddle Martyrs.) Itâs never clear which version of Rudd you are going to encounter.
New South Wales Senator Sam Dastyari suggested there are a number of different Kevins.
The key with Kevin is youâve got to know which Kevin youâre dealing with before you walk into the room. Are you dealing with workaholic Kevin? Are you dealing with charming Kevin? Are you dealing with angry Kevin? Are you
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