Mr Kevin Rudd Prime Minister of Australia, in a lengthy essay published in the Sydney Morning Herald, has warned of more economic pain ahead for Australia.

Mr Rudd said that the road to recovery will be long, tough and bumpy, with many twists and turns. He added that "I would much rather be upfront with the Australian people about [the future], but equally upfront about how we lay the building blocks for the next generation of economic growth."

In the 6,100 word essay, he warns that even as growth returns, the economic conditions facing many families will deteriorate. Mr Rudd has warned that it will look like things are getting worse before they get better, with interest rates inevitably rising.

He said that higher demand will potentially force up petrol and food prices and that unemployment will keep going up for as long as a year after growth returns. He added that the Federal Government will make difficult and unpopular decisions as it seeks to cut the budget deficit in half by 2013.

(Sourced from www.abc.net.au)