08/08/2007
Senator Minchin’s newest instalment in his scare campaign about the
cost of
Labor’s policies is the latest act of desperation by the Howard Government
and
repeats many of the fabrications in his 17 April release, $20 billion and Counting
– Rudd’s Spending Spree.
The only difference is that according to Senator Minchin, Labor’s spend
has
miraculously reduced from $20.1 billion to $14.2 billion over the past three
months. Today’s claim my Senator Minchin still relies on shifty accounting
practices.
Labor reiterates the facts outlined in its reponse to Senator Minchin’s
17 April
dishonesty:
• Labor’s water infrastructure commitments are funded with money
already
allocated in the Budget but not spent.
• Labor’s broadband commitment is a capital commitment, moving two
existing government telecommunications investments across into a new
telecommunications investment.
• No Labor commitment to fund a $2 billion Gold Coast infrastructure
program has been made.
• No Labor commitments to spend Future Fund earnings on infrastructure
projects have been made. Senator Minchin has simply invented a figure of
$11.7 billion in new spending.
• A number of the commitments identified by Senator Minchin do not come
on line for several years, but he asserts they commence immediately.
• In fact, the vast bulk of the claimed $20 billion in new Labor spending
simply does not exist.
In addition, Labor changes to withholding tax will cost $15 million per year,
not
the $100 million per year claimed by Senator Minchin. As revealed by Treasury
Officials at Senate estimates, for this to be correct a zero gearing ratio
must be
assumed within the managed funds sector, which is absurd. Industry completely
rejects the Government’s estimate.
As the Finance Minister presides over an election year spending spree, $10
billion
commitments that aren’t even considered by Cabinet and $180 million
interventions in State run public hospitals that he is not even informed of,
Senator
Minchin would do better tackling his own spending problems, rather than
inventing stories about Labor’s commitments.
8 August 2007
