Abbott to slash 70m – are jobs in danger?
By Matthew Franklin
The Coalition could shut down entire government departments as its searches for $70 billion in budget savings to fund promises for the next election, including up to $8bn in cuts to personal tax.
Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has told The Australian he is leading an opposition razor gang blitz on “big government”, guaranteeing to deliver the budget to surplus in 2012-13 while also slashing tax collections and government spending.
As Wayne Swan warned of threats to basic services such as health and education, the Seven Network reported that leaked opposition documents showed the Coalition planned to slice $70bn from Labor programs.
The documents said the cuts were needed to fund $37bn in existing promises and up to $8bn in tax cuts. They would make up for revenue it would forgo by dumping the planned carbon tax and mineral resources rent tax.
Turmoil on global financial markets in recent days had put a spotlight on the government’s budget situation, with the Treasurer and Julia Gillard conceding that a slowdown in growth could hit government revenues and make it harder to deliver on their promises to return the budget to surplus by 2012-13.
Yesterday, Mr Hockey said only a Coalition government could deliver the surplus and that his razor gang had been conducting a line-by-line examination of government spending.
Mr Hockey, who said last week a Coalition government would likely scrap the Department of Climate Change, said other departments could also be dismantled.
“We have to in order to achieve (the surplus),” Mr Hockey said. “There will have to be cuts in expenditure and if there are fewer government spending programs then there will be fewer public servants needed.”
Last night’s Seven Network report highlighted the scale of the savings task facing the opposition. Seven said leaked frontbench documents indicated that Tony Abbott’s plan to dump Labor’s carbon tax would cost $27bn over four years, while scrapping Labor’s new mineral resources rent tax would cost $11bn.
Added to $8bn in tax cuts and $37bn in existing Coalition policy commitments, a Coalition government would have to find $70bn worth of cuts to existing Labor programs.
Last night, the Treasurer said every time Mr Hockey opened his mouth, it was to “talk down the economy” or propose closing government departments because they repudiated his “economic thought-bubbles”.
“Who’s next?” he asked. “The commonwealth Treasury because they found an $11bn hole in his election costings?”
Earlier yesterday, Mr Swan softened his adherence to the 2012-13 budget surplus target, describing it as an “objective”.
Article from The Australian, August 12, 2011.
