In a time of slowing growth in Australia and so called 'end of the mining investment boom' (I hope the pollies know the amount of money being invested in LNG, just a different type of mining), HARSH austerity can harm an economy, however sustained budget deficits get the government into the problem of implementing austerity. That's why to balance both, solely on economic terms the LNPs NBN makes much more sense. In hindsight the big spending items like NDIS make sense socially, but economically it's not the right time. At a time when everyone is talking about fiscal responsibility, the ALP turn around and massively increase discretionary spending. Yes we want to reduce unemployment, but making it harder to lay off, and increasing the public service payroll, is not a long term option.