"This all puts a lie to Mr Rudd's claim of a black hole of $70 billion." Mr Hockey and shadow finance minister Mr Robb also announced the Coalition's infrastructure package, which they said formed the "final part of the Coalition's comprehensive economic plan". Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Coalition would improve the budget bottom line by more than $6 billion and would increase spending to health and education, Mr Hockey said. He said that a growth in foreign aid funding would be reduced by $4.5 billion over the forward estimates to help fund "essential infrastructure" in Australia.

‘‘We can’t continue to fund a massive increase in foreign aid at the expense of investment in the Australian economy," he said. ‘‘So we have to cut the growth in foreign aid, to fund Australian infrastructure because the stronger the Australian economy, the more generous we can be in future.’’ The Coalition has also removed the timeline for Australia to contribute 0.5 per cent of its Gross National Income to overseas aid - which was part of Australia's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. Labor has twice delayed this goal but is currently due to reach the target by 2017-18. The Coalition is simply remaining "committed" to the "target", saying it cannot name a date because of the state of the budget after six years of Labor government.

The Coalition's Foreign Affairs Policy - released on Thursday afternoon - also says: "We are concerned about the rapid increase in foreign aid ... in light of real concerns about the ability of AusAID and other agencies to manage such a programme efficiently and effectively." Mr Hockey also said that a Coalition government would 're-phase' the Murray-Darling water buyback scheme. The delays to the scheme will save $650 million by spreading four years' worth of spending over six. A further 0.25 per cent efficiency dividend on the public service is expected to generate $428 million, "through prudent limitations on government advertising and consultancies as well as on government travel".

Click here for the Coalition's election commitment costings

Click here for the budget impacts of the costings The Coalition's figures show it expects to save $14.6 billion from axing the mining tax, saving $18.6 billion in spending associated with Labor's tax, minus $3.7 billion in foregone revenue from the tax. Among the measures to be scrapped that would have been funded from the mining tax are the schoolkids' bonus and low-income superannuation contributions. Costings scrutiny

Mr Hockey has released the Coalition's final costings amid fierce criticism from Labor, who has argued that the opposition has been evading scrutiny on their plans. In his address to the National Press Club on Thursday, before the costings were released, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd attacked Mr Abbott for holding back the information until the blackout of election advertising on radio and TV had kicked in. Mr Hockey hit back at Labor's claims the Coalition would cut $70 billion from the bottom line. "We are actually increasing the funding for health and education," he said. "That's what we're doing. Now, Kevin Rudd said 'cut, cut, cut'. We're not cutting health, we're not cutting education. And we're not cutting Defence. As you can see, our numbers are plainly there. Now, if there is waste, if there is waste, if there is waste, of course we will get rid of waste. I think that's the appropriate thing to do."

He defended the timing of the Coalition’s costings, which come just two days before voters head to the polls. ‘‘You know the fact is, Labor in its costings yesterday, which it released and only partially released, had billions of dollars that was unfunded from some mysterious pool in the budget that they haven't told anyone about,’’ Mr Hockey said. ‘‘But Kevin Rudd's thought bubbles haven't been funded. His thought bubble on the Northern Territory: unfunded. His thought bubble on a railway between Brisbane and Melbourne: unfunded. His next thought bubble I was expecting was going to be to put Australians on the moon by 2050.’’ Infrastructure focus The Coalition has singled out infrastructure as a key part of its economic plan, with Coalition leader Tony Abbott saying repeatedly in the lead up to the election that he wanted to be known as an "Infrastructure Prime Minister".

The infrastructure package will involve "almost" $5 billion in extra funding over the forward estimates, including $1.5 billion of Melbourne’s controversial east-west Link, an 80/20 share of the Bruce Highway with Queensland, and spending on the WestConnex project in Sydney. But some infrastructure projects face the axe as part of a clear shift away from federal funding for public transport. The Coalition will save the budget $75 million by not proceeding with a Melbourne metro rail project, $453 million by abandoning Brisbane's cross-river rail plan, and $100 million by discontinuing Perth urban rail public transport funding. Mr Hockey and Mr Robb said the infrastructure package would be funded from a "reprioritisation" of existing budget resources as well as the reduction in the growth of foreign aid spending. The shadow treasurer said the Coalition would establish a National Commission of Audit to focus on "getting rid of the waste", and improving the "efficiency" of the public service in Canberra.

"We've been able to identify projects like $160,000 in examinations of reproductive technology in Egypt," he said. "We have to get rid of the waste, have to get rid of the waste, have a more efficient public sector. That's what our commission of audit will do." The Coalition's education spending includes $70 million to encourage public schools to turn semi-independent and $60 million for the new Colombo Plan, but the opposition has confirmed it will cut $23 million earmarked for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. The Coalition will also scrap the development of an Australian Baccalaureate, saving $5 million. The program would have given secondary students the chance to earn a certificate of international standing similar to the British 'A' level and the French Baccalaureate.

Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quick to slam the Coalition's costings on Thursday afternoon. "They're not policy costings, they're as farce," Mr Albanese told Sky News. "What we aren't seeing is any of the documentation for any of this work. They've been hiding their costings, they've been hiding their candidates." Finance Minister Penny Wong said the release of the costings less than 48 hours before the election, ‘‘really just shows what we’ve been saying for some time ... the Coalition is hiding things from the Australian people’’. ‘‘It’s an issue about what’s not on the documents ... what hasn’t been released to the Australian people.

‘‘This is all about hiding your cuts until after the election.’’ Foreign aid savings Greens leader Christine Milne criticised the Coalition for not submitting its asylum seeker, climate change and broadband policies to the Parliamentary Budget Office for this most recent round of costings. "Three signature issues, no costings," she said. The Greens leader also said the reduction in foreign aid spending to fund domestic infrastructure was "shocking".

"Tony Abbott is not only bad for this country, he is bad for the region." UNICEF Australia chief executive Norman Gillespie said Mr Hockey's $4.5 billion cut to planned foreign aid increases was "at the expense of children’s lives". “Joe Hockey would have us believe they can wait and that Australia can’t afford to fund foreign aid but I have to disagree," he said. "We are a strong OECD country, yet we are fast becoming the least generous when it comes to reducing global poverty. “It’s clear the Coalition no longer has the same desire to deliver on poverty reduction and good governance it held during the Howard years."

Care Australia spokesman Andrew Buchanan said the Coalition's commitment to keeping the millennium development goal at an undisclosed future date ''lacks credibility and substance without a timeframe". "In light of Australia taking over the presidency of the UN Security Council it really undermines Australia's reputation on the world stage," he said. The Community and Public Sector Union said the announcement of the extra efficiency dividend, which would take it to 2.5 per cent in 2014-15, would see services cut. "This will knock services around the country for six. Centrelink queues will get longer, there'll be fewer people inspecting at Quarantine and fewer people checking the weather at the Bureau of Meteorology," national secretary Nadine Flood said. Earlier on Thursday, Mr Abbott argued that "no opposition in our history" had been as thorough with its costings than the Coalition.

The policy costings have been scrutinised by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office and a "panel of review" made up of three "eminent" experts: former secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Peter Shergold, economist Geoff Carmody and former Queensland auditor-general Len Scanlan. Loading "These three eminent Australians have confirmed that they are of the opinion that the final policy costings provided by the Coalition ... are based on reasonable assumptions and calculations," Mr Hockey and Mr Robb said. With Daniel Hurst