Australia was among a handful of advanced economies to avoid recession during the global financial crisis. A decade on from the start of the slump, the question of whether the mining boom carried Australia through the crisis ' mitigating the need for the government's big-spending response ' remains a source of debate. Wayne Swan, who was treasurer during the crisis, has challenged the notion that Australia was carried through the crisis by the mining sector. He told ABC radio that "it had nothing to do with the mining boom". Did the boom play no role staving off recession? RMIT ABC Fact Check found Mr Swan's claim is over the top. While mining investment, commodity prices and mining jobs fell during the key period of the global financial crisis, experts told Fact Check the mining boom placed Australia in a strong economic and fiscal position ahead of the crisis, and helped accelerate the post-crisis recovery. Lending a hand were a low exchange rate and stimulus spending in China, which helped sustain mining exports during the crisis. Mr Swan is entitled to say his government's swift and decisive response was a key reason Australia did not follow most of the developed world into recession. But his emphatic rejection of the role of mining goes too far.
Verdict: Over the top