Prior financial excesses would be highly likely to play a part in worsening any downturn if and when it occurred; having avoided the worst of such excesses is a big help. We can further add that fiscal policy expansion during 2000 was remarkably well-timed from the perspective of stabilising the business cycle.
Yet another factor is that Australia’s terms of trade have not slumped in the way they have so often done in the past; indeed, until quite recently the terms of trade had been rising.