Govt says it's fighting finance crisis

(AAP) - The federal government has rejected criticism it hasn't done enough to buffer Australia from the financial turmoil overseas.
Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says the government should consider further tightening restrictions on short-selling and pumping more liquidity into mortgage markets.

Mr Turnbull has also called for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to cancel his trip to New
York this week to deal with Australia's response to the crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the government had already moved to cushion
blows from the global credit crisis.
"The government's acted on a range of fronts to make sure that our already well
regulated financial markets are the subject of new measures in the face of this
global crisis," Ms Gillard told Sky News.
"We have a well regulated banking system and we're putting in place some further
measures to protect people with deposits to ensure that the strength of the
regulation here remains."
The government welcomed the announcement by the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC) of an interim ban on covered short-selling of all
Australian stocks.
The ban, on top of a ban on "naked" short-selling announced on Friday, takes effect
on Monday.
Short-selling, the selling of shares in a stock the seller doesn't own, has been
partly blamed for the recent sharp falls of stocks such as Macquarie Group.
"The measures being taken by ASIC are an appropriate response to global financial
market turbulence," Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a statement.
"They will help protect investors as well as the integrity of our financial markets."
Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen said many regulatory measures had been under
constant review during the crisis.
"Any more measures which are necessary will receive the attention of government and
two regulatory agencies," he told ABC TV.
Mr Turnbull told the Nine Network there were concerns that Australia had been "less
stringent" on short-selling than the UK and US.
Also, banks were finding it harder to refinance mortgages, he said.
Mr Turnbull continued to call for a bipartisan approach to the crisis, telling the
Seven Network Mr Rudd should cancel his New York trip as a first step.
Mr Rudd is flying to the US city for the United Nations general assembly and talks
with US finance officials.
Mr Bowen said bipartisanship is unlikely when the opposition is determined to block
certain budget measures, blowing a $6 billion hole in the surplus over four years.
"It's a bit hard to have a discussion about bipartisanship when you have these sorts
of events going on," he said.
The opposition is trying to block four budget measures - tax hikes on alcopops and
luxury cars, an increase in the Medicare levy surcharge income threshold and changes
to the oil condensate tax.
Mr Turnbull said while the opposition is trying to remove a "gigantic" sum from the
government's coffers, it would not threaten the economy.
"It's a huge amount of money, but the point is Labor stands up there and says we're
seeking to vandalise the budget ... (but) it would reduce government revenues by
less than half of one per cent.
"We're not threatening the economy, we're not vandalising the budget."