Professor John Freebairn from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Business & Economics has criticized Tony Abbott’s idea to offer generous tax breaks to super funds and homeowners to invest in Government approved projects to help fund a $700 billion infrastructure wish list.

 “I think it is a dumb idea.  Why subsidise one type of investment at the expense of other investment options, when there is no explicit market failure reason for doing so?”

You can find out more about Abbott's idea in today's Age: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/abbott-in-push-for-big-projects-20100817-128it.html.

Professor Freebairn, one of Australia's leading experts on taxation reform and labour economics, is available for further comment. Please contact the University of Melbourne media office on 8344 4123.