I think Smurf, and even MrBurns point out exactly the main point some of us who do not approve of supporting commercial developers. There are many other things which are a probably more important, such as providing a sustainable future, and even the basics such as schools, hospitals, and a good transport network which this money should go towards.
Shopping centres, residential towers, and commercial office-space is all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, there has to be increased demand for these items or they are wasteful. Going into a recession, these will just sit on the market, businesses will not be leasing them anyhow, and they may even help bring down the price of existing assets.
And again, these are only temporary measures, as soon enough, these projects will be completed. It may allow the companies to stay afloat, but once these existing projects end, they definitely won't be making the mistake of going into too many more similar developments for a while until conditions improve. Then those construction-workers will be laid off *anyhow*. It is just delaying the process, not providing any long-term solution.
A recession ends when falling supply can no longer meet the demand, and eventually supply rises (production, construction) and we have a return to growth. By interfering with this, we may actually be stymieing this natural process, and drawing out recovery.
As if somehow because people decided to get a credit card, or didn't save what you consider to be enough money, and instead bought a car or a house or something, that therefore they deserve to lose their jobs, house, be bankrupted, have their kids futures ruined etc etc. It really comes across as big chip on some peoples shoulders and that they are very bitter about something....
In a way, yes... It's about time people saved more, and stop consuming overtly on things that provide all sorts of longer-term consequences which are already becoming an issue as they are becoming unsustainable. This actually provides a more stable base for the economy than running up more and more debt, which is not sustainable.
We've already seen the consequence of what happens to other countries who have followed this excess debt to fund consumption model (UK and US) right now, and surely we can do better than this.
The best way to do this is not to reward those who have followed this path, by not providing subsidies to keep them afloat, and let them be aware and live the consequence of their actions. They will get through, they may suffer for a time, but they will become stronger as a result, Australia has always got through these times in the past on our own, and we will again.