9 May 2001

Doorstop, Malvern Primary School, Melbourne

Note

SUBJECTS: Centenary of Federation, business confidence

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible).

TREASURER:

I think that there is a real atmosphere of celebration in Melbourne at the moment. You would have seen from those kids that they understand Federation, they are excited by it, they are doing projects on it. I think the number of people that have been in Melbourne add a great deal of glamour and excitement to the city and I think there is quite an interest in Federation and it will come to a height this afternoon.

JOURNALIST:

Alright. And secondly, the NAB, was very soft, it appears things haven’t bottomed as we might have thought?

TREASURER:

Look, you get different business surveys, but I think the most important economic information this week was the retail trade, which for the March quarter was quite strong - 1.9 per cent. And that will make a healthy contribution to growth in the March quarter. And I have a feeling that with supportive monetary policy, we have now had a number of interest rate cuts, that will be returning a lot of confidence to consumers and business.

Thanks.