X MARKS THE SPOT AS ABBOTT’S NUMBERS STILL DON’T ADD UP

Federal Labor today called again on Tony Abbott to commit to fully comply with the Charter of Budget Honesty as he made another serious economic error. 

The Coalition’s Education Tax Refund policy is likely to cost significantly more than he has budgeted for.

Mr Abbott can’t even tell the Australian people what the net impact of his service cuts would be on the Budget, with a press release handed out to journalists today stating these service cuts add up to $X. 

Tony Abbott and his economic team is a risk to the economy and a risk to the budget.  Mr Abbott has said he is bored with economics, and Mr Hockey has shown that he is more interested in celebrities than crunching the numbers.  

The only way Australians can really know what Mr Abbott is promising and how he will pay for it is for the Coalition to submit all their commitments ‑ including savings from cutting services – for independent costing by the Secretaries of Treasury and Finance.  

The Liberal Party introduced the Charter of Budget Honesty requirements when in Government and should fully comply with them in Opposition. 

The Gillard Labor Government’s responsible economic management will ensure the budget is back in the black with a surplus in 2013, three years ahead of schedule. The Gillard Labor Government has already committed that by election day:

·          all our commitments will have been fully offset over the forward estimates – meaning not a single cent is added to the overall budget bottom line; and

·          all our policies will be submitted for costing under the Charter of Budget Honesty. 

The Government’s first costing request was submitted to the Secretaries of Treasury and Finance earlier today.  It is available at www.electioncostings.gov.au   

An update of the net budget impact of Federal Labor’s election commitments to date is below.  

This information will be updated regularly throughout the campaign, to ensure that voters are fully informed on the fiscal impact of election policies when they vote on 21 August.

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