News

Updated net budget impact of election policies

Wayne Swan posted Monday, 16 August 2010

Tony Abbott’s billion dollar a day spending spree is more evidence that he lacks the judgement and understanding of the Budget to manage the Australian economy.

Despite Mr Abbott’s baseless assertion on television this morning that he would deliver a bigger surplus, he is still refusing to show the Australian people the true cost of his promises.

Even he knows that his sums just don’t add up.

Mr Abbott has spent over $30 billion, blown his budget and has punched a $3.6 billion hole in the budget surpluses in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

It’s taken Mr Abbott less than one month to almost halve the budget surpluses.

This is why he is refusing to submit his policies for independent costing under the Charter of Budget Honesty.

Mr Abbott needs to come clean with the Australian people and tell them what further services he will cut and what taxes he will increase to fund his billions in un-funded spending promises.

He has already admitted he will need to cut $9.3 billion in education and health services that families rely on to fund his promises.

Only a re-elected Gillard Labor Government has a plan to responsibly manage the Australian economy and bring the Budget back to surplus in 2013 without slashing the health and education budgets.

Throughout the campaign, Federal Labor has released regular updates of the net budget impact of its commitments, so the Australian people are fully informed when they come to vote on 21 August. The latest update is below.

The Gillard Labor Government has submitted all our announced election policies for independent costing under the Charter of Budget Honesty, and will continue to do so in accordance with the Charter provisions (see attached).

Labor's election commitments	$m
Labor's new election policies	-3,487
Savings to offset Labor's new policies	3,971
Impact on the Budget bottom line	484

The Prime Minister has 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.
• All our policies will be submitted for costing under the Charter of Budget Honesty.

Federal Labor is today announcing further reprioritisation of public sector expenditure in order to redirect funds to other government priorities.

Reforms to government

A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will not proceed with additional funding provided in the 2010-11 Budget to the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, saving $39.5 million over the forward estimates.

The Gillard Labor Government will operate a traditional form of Cabinet government, reducing the workload on the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, removing the need for $10 million of additional funding over the forward estimates.

The APSC will continue to lead implementation of the report, Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration, but primarily within its existing resources, saving $29.5 million over the forward estimates.

A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will also review the overseas network of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that it is meeting Australia’s changing strategic, economic and diplomatic needs. This review is expected to result in a small number of overseas positions being returned to Australia and will deliver savings of $45.5 million over four years.

Rationalisation of diabetes grants

Services provided under the COAG Diabetes Grants Program will now be provided under the Government’s new $449 million investment in coordinated care for Australians living with diabetes.

The Government’s new initiative extends support for lifestyle modification programs to all age groups and will also provide GPs with flexibility in determining the extent of services required. Uncommitted funds from the COAG Diabetes Grants Program of $31.5 million from 2012-13 onwards will be redirected to the Government’s $449 million investment.

In contrast, the Coalition has indicated that they would cut the entire $449 million for providing coordinated care for Australians living with diabetes from the Budget.

Victorian Regional Rail Link – re-phasing of project milestone payments

The Gillard Labor Government will also re-phase funds available for the Victorian Regional Rail Link to reflect completion of delivery milestones for the project. The final payment will be increased from $100 million to $300 million and will be made upon the project’s scheduled completion in late 2014. Funding of $80 million in 2012-13 and $120 million in 2013-14 will be re-phased into 2014-15 for this purpose.

The overall funding for the project remains unchanged and this change will not affect the scheduled delivery of the project.

Auction of 2.5 GHz band spectrum

A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will also proceed with auctioning the use of the 2.5 GHz band (2500-2690 MHz) spectrum in 2012 13. The auction is expected to raise at least $200 million that will be returned to the budget to help fund other government priorities.

On 21 August Australians have a clear choice between the Gillard Labor Government’s clear plan to bring the budget back to surplus in 2013 or Tony Abbott who has no plan and cannot be trusted with the budget or the economy.