Liberals unveil costings, plans to slash national debt
Andrew Brown |
Peter Dutton has pledged the coalition will shave billions of dollars off government debt by removing some of Labor’s signature policies, if the opposition wins the election.
As the coalition released its costings on Thursday, the party claimed it would reduce debt by $40 billion over the next four years.
These include plans to cut at least two of the Labor government’s off-budget investment funds, including the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund set up to build 30,000 new homes and the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation Fund.
Initial costings provided by the coalition said savings would also be achieved by stopping “unsustainable public servant increases” through natural attrition over five years.
But the costings did not reveal the dollar amount to be saved from a cut-back in government jobs.
The full costings will be unveiled by shadow treasurer Angus Taylor later on Thursday.
But the opposition leader said the full document will show a budget in better shape.
“Australians know from their own experiences the economy will always be better managed under a Liberal-National government,” Mr Dutton told reporters in Brisbane.
“That lower debt means interest rates come down.
“The detail will be there for people to see, and what they’ll see is that debt will be lower under us.”
The coalition’s goal is to add at least $10 billion to the budget – which is walking toward a decade of deficits under Labor – over the four years to 2028/29 while cutting government gross debt by $40 billion over the same period.
Other cuts include scrapping student debt relief worth $16 billion, and unwinding Labor’s decision to lower tax concessions for superannuation accounts with balances higher than $3 million.
Mr Taylor said higher debt levels under the government left Australians more exposed to global economic shocks.
“We will rebuild the nation’s fiscal buffers, reduce debt, and begin budget repair because that’s what economic responsibility looks like,” he said.
“Labor has delivered the longest per-capita recession on record and the biggest collapse in living standards in the developed world. That’s not bad luck, that’s bad management.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles criticised the coalition for releasing its costings two days before Saturday’s election.
However, Labor released its costings at the same point in the campaign when it was in opposition in 2022.
“The coalition, in terms of how they have spoken about the budget, have been an utter joke,” he told ABC Radio.
“They talk about economic surgery, they talk a big game. But when they are then questioned about how will this actually be done, they run for the hills, and we get absolutely no detail at all.”
The government released its costings on Tuesday, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers saying the cost of Labor’s election promises would be offset by more than $7 billion in savings.
This means the budget deficit would be reduced by $1 billion over the next four years, compared with pre-election forecasts.
Labor’s crackdown on the use of consultants and labour hire in favour of public servants would save $6.4 billion, Dr Chalmers said.
AAP
