Wong releases costings of Opposition policies

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Penny Wong discusses Coalition budget costings on ABC's Insiders (Insiders)

Finance Minister Penny Wong has released a costings document that finds the Opposition's policies would put the budget $9 billion in deficit next financial year.

The document uses Treasury and Immigration Department figures which the Coalition has disputed, but it does not include the savings the Opposition has promised to find.

Senator Wong has told ABC's Insiders program the Coalition must outline how it will find the money.

"We've taken a very conservative position - we have been quite generous to the Coalition," she said.

"If Andrew Robb, Joe Hockey, Tony Abbott say this is wrong, tell us where it's wrong, tell Australians where it's wrong, tell us what they're not funding, tell us which savings they are going to make."

The Opposition has said it will release its policies closer to the next federal election, as is tradition.

But Ms Wong says Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has claimed to know where savings can be found, and the public is entitled to know what cuts the Opposition is going to make to fund its promises.

"I don't think the Coalition can run around credibly claiming to be a party that is economically responsible when they continue to say 'we're going to spend this, we're going to fund this' when they're opposing revenue sources that fund it," she said.

"We've had to do this because Tony Abbott simply refuses to tell Australians what he would actually do to the federal budget."

The Federal Government says there is a $70 billion black hole in the Coalition's plans for office, but the Opposition has rejected this idea.

"This is a Finance Minister who has overseen in the last 12 months a deterioration in the Federal Budget from a $12 billion deficit to a $37 billion deficit," Mr Hockey told Channel Ten's The Bolt Report.

"Quite frankly, we're not going to take any lectures on numbers or on fiscal prudence from Penny Wong."

Coalition finance spokesman Andrew Robb says the Government's newly-released costings are fictional.

"This is really a clumsy attempt by the Government to deflect attention from what now is nearly $100 billion in unfunded or hidden commitments that they have made," he said.

Earlier this month, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott promised to set up an audit commission to look at all government spending and report within four months of winning the next election.

He said he would significantly restrain spending and streamline the operations of government departments, but did not say how much savings he expected to find.

Topics: federal-government, budget, australia

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