FED:Abbott accused of $7 billion gaffe

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2010
FED:Abbott accused of $7 billion gaffe

By Karlis Salna

CANBERRA, Aug 9 AAP - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been accused of a $7 billion
blunder over the coalition's election spending commitments, opening the door for Labor
to attack his ability to manage the economy.

As the nation's finances continued to be the focus of the campaign on Monday, Mr Abbott
and his treasury spokesman Joe Hockey appeared to be at odds over the coalition's expenditure
plans.

Mr Abbott, during a morning radio interview, insisted that the coalition's spending
commitments would total less than $18 billion.

"We've identified, including the mining tax, something like $28 billion of cuts to
recurrent spending ... that's still about $18 billion worth of reductions in recurrent
expenditure," he told ABC Radio.

"And our promised expenditure is well under that."

But during a debate on the economy with Treasurer Wayne Swan just hours later at the
National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Hockey said the coalition's "promised expenditure"

totalled more than $25 billion.

"I can say to you emphatically so far this election campaign we have announced expenditure
of $25.733 billion. We have announced savings of $28.534 billion," Mr Hockey said.

Labor seized on the confusion, with Mr Swan saying it cast serious doubts over Mr Abbott's
economic credentials.

"This is a $7 billion gap between the two figures, a $7 billion gap which creates serious
doubts about their judgment and their capacity to manage an economy," Mr Swan said.

Mr Abbott later rejected the suggestion there was a contradiction.

"It's both in a sense," he said.

"Joe's figure of $25 billion included a $10 billion tax cut," Mr Abbott said, referring
to revenue that would be lost by the coalition's decision to dump Labor's mining tax,
which it considers an expenditure.

The development came as Mr Abbott again rejected Prime Minister Julia Gillard's challenges
to a debate on the economy, and as former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello came to Mr
Abbott's defence.

Mr Costello has demanded Labor pull a campaign ad in which he is featured scoffing
at Mr Abbott's economic knowledge.

Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard are set to take part in a town hall meeting at the Rooty Hill
RSL Club in Sydney's western suburbs where they will field questions from 200 undecided
voters.

"When I said I would debate Tony Abbott on the economy he said his campaign arrangements
were locked in and he couldn't put the debate into his diary," Ms Gillard said.

"Well, as it turns out, both of us will be in the same place at the same time in Sydney
on Wednesday night."

At the National Press Club, the debate on the economy was fought on familiar lines,
with Mr Swan defending the stimulus and attacking the coalition's failure to submit its
policies to Treasury for costing.

Mr Hockey said the coalition would submit all its policies for costing "before polling day".

"We will not go down the path of lodging tens or hundreds of policies 12 hours or 24
hours before election day."

In 2007, Labor did not submit most of its costings until the final week of the campaign.

Regardless of the confusion over the coalition's spending commitments, Mr Hockey said
the opposition was still ahead of Labor in terms of savings.

"So far we have $2.8 billion of net savings on the announced policies. That indicated
we're $2.8 billion ahead of Labor."

Both Labor and the coalition also maintain they will return the budget to surplus by 2012/13.

However, while Labor has predicted a surplus of $3.5 billion in 2012/13, the coalition
is yet to nominate a figure.

Mr Abbott, campaigning in Brisbane, said the coalition would deliver a surplus much
greater than that forecast by Labor.

"I will announce well before polling day what we believe the budgetary outcome for
2012/13 will be," he said.

"What I say at the moment is it will be significantly larger than that achieved by
the government because you just can't trust this government not to see blowout after blowout."

AAP kms/apm

KEYWORD: POLL10 ECONOMY WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)

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