`Ruddbank` voted down in the Senate

A plan to use $2 billion of taxpayers' money to shore up the commercial property
sector has been rejected by federal parliament.
The coalition and the Greens in the Senate on Tuesday evening voted down the fund,
dubbed Ruddbank by its critics.
The fund, officially called the Australian Business Investment Partnership, would
have been used to keep big property developments alive if foreign lenders withdrew
because of the financial crisis.
The federal government would have chipped in $2 billion, and the big four banks
would have matched that amount between them.
There would have been a further guarantee of $26 billion.
Treasurer Wayne Swan slammed the no vote, saying it jeopardised thousands of jobs.
He targeted the federal opposition and its leader Malcolm Turnbull.
"It comes as no surprise that the Liberals want to play politics with the
livelihoods of many thousands of Australians tied up in the commercial property
sector, including plumbers, electricians and carpenters," Mr Swan said.
"Mr Turnbull's strategy creates the circumstances where thousands of Australians
could go to the wall and if they do it will be on his head."
Before the vote, Greens leader Bob Brown told the Senate he would vote against
Ruddbank unless the government agreed to cap the salaries of bank and property
chiefs.
"To give a blank cheque here ... through the banks, to developers ... is something
the Greens are not going to simply back off on," Senator Brown told the Senate.
The Greens tried to introduce an amendment to include a salary cap but that failed,
so they voted against the bill.
The coalition has previously spoken against Ruddbank, saying tens of billions of
taxpayers' money should not be used to hold up commercial property prices.
Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry told the Senate that Labor made "no apologies" for
the legislation, which was a good idea in a financial crisis.
"You cannot let banks fail, governments do have to intervene proactively," he told
the Senate just before the vote.
Senator Sherry said the government was yet to decide whether or not it would seek to
reintroduce the legislation.