Coalition avoids scrutiny

[mantra]

Abbott will not release detailed costings of his policy promises until a few hours before the election thereby ensuring that voters will not have a chance to review crucial economic information. There will be no time for economists and journalists to scrutinise the details and the public will go blindly to the polls.

This is what we have to expect under a Coalition government. A leader who is dishonest and sly. If his communication skills and transparency are so lacking now - how much worse will they be when he's in the top job?

What services will be cut in order for Abbott to save $70 billion to fund his bribes?

Tony Abbott, whose campaign has been buoyed by Labor's failed attack on the Coalition's supposed budget black hole, has revealed he will not release detailed costings of his policy promises until the last few hours before the poll.

As both sides braced for the final week of election 2013, an increasingly confident Mr Abbott revealed his complete policy costings would be kept under wraps until ''the end of next week''.

His move to delay their release means voters will be denied crucial economic information until just hours before they cast their ballots.

It will allow the Coalition to avoid sustained financial scrutiny and circumvent an expected massive ALP and union-funded advertising blitz over the opposition's final costings.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... 2sw97.html

[Rorschach]

Sorry where were you when labor released them the Friday before the last election? Or was it the one before... or was it both?

[IQS.RLOW]

Like it matters.

The ALP lied, so no cookie for them.

[Jovial_Monk]

Yup—LNP using shonky costings:

ABC economic reporter Stephen Long agrees:

I think that by and large the press gallery has got this wrong. They’ve interpreted the statement from Finance and Treasury yesterday as saying the numbers that the Government released weren’t credible.

I see it differently, I think that they were distancing themselves from the politics of this, Treasury and Finance didn’t like being used in this way for political purposes during a campaign. The fact remains that there are costings from Treasury and Finance and the Parliamentary Budget Office now on the public record which are well shy of the costings that the Coalition says that it can make.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3837863.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And:

Adam Todd ✔ @_AdamTodd

Here's Parliamentary Budget Office data released by ALP claiming Coalition's savings are $20.8b not $31.6b #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/tIKYhRWnr9


10:55 AM - 29 Aug 2013

Greg Jericho @GrogsGamut

Maybe it is time to release the actual PBO costings then? Surely that would clear it all up?

11:28 AM - 29 Aug 2013

(What a comedian!)

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

The @pbo_au isn't saying that the costing is wrong @Kieran_Gilbert just that it is not the formal costing of a policy lodged by LNP

6:27 PM - 29 Aug 2013
8 RETWEET

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

That @joehockey @andrewrobbmp haven't fronted a full press conference on LNP costings today is telling. What are they hiding?

5:13 PM - 29 Aug 2013
19 RETWEETS 5 FAVORITES

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

To the contrary @jamesmassola has seriously misstated the role of impartial public servants @michellegrattan @ConversationEDU

9:03 PM - 29 Aug 2013
4 RETWEETS 2 FAVORITES

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

Both implying public servants are in effect being political - untrue and gross misreading of statements @jamesmassola @michellegrattan

9:06 PM - 29 Aug 2013

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

LNP have failed to meet 5.30pm deadline today set by @pbo_au for costing election policies (p.4): http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/05%20Abou ... ction.ashx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … #epicfail

8:34 PM - 29 Aug 2013

Simon Banks @SimonBanksHB

LNP line on costings tonight is that the Australian people should trust them, they don't need to know the truth. Good luck with that one!

6:51 PM - 29 Aug 2013
9 RETWEETS 3 FAVORITES

Possum Comitatus @Pollytics

1.Government costed swathes of known & likely Coalition policies before the election - all governments do.Part of the power of incumbency

8:58 PM - 29 Aug 2013

Possum Comitatus @Pollytics

2. Government released some of those costings today - media fails completely to understand the process involved with the costings

8:58 PM - 29 Aug 2013

Possum Comitatus @Pollytics

3. Media reports the costings were done in a fashion that is actually illegal, and screws it all up, leaving Depts in a precarious position

8:59 PM - 29 Aug 2013

Possum Comitatus @Pollytics

4. Treasury,Finance & PBO release statements on those media "reports" today, clarifying what was already obvious to anyone with room temp IQ

9:00 PM - 29 Aug 2013
23 RETWEETS 3 FAVORITES

The last leaves out mellie/naffy/IQ & roach, obviously.

PS Possum is an econometrician, knows what he is talking about there.

[Rorschach]

Are you going out of your way to pick on me Monk... I mean you just came back
So what is your claim in regards what I've said so far.

[Rorschach]

I may be wrong but aren't the ALP figures the same ones they've been on about for months based on their own assumptions and of course a worse case scenario they put to Treasury?

Aren't they the figures Rudd and Co are spouting

Other senior government figures also stood by the claim, despite the Treasury statement.

Pressed on the origins of the $10 billion figure, Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed it came ''from Treasury and Finance''.

However, he later acknowledged a central Coalition point, also made by Treasury, that ''if you change the assumptions, depending on the detail of the opposition policy, then you might get a different outcome''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... z2dWcNAnq7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rorschach]

On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson and Finance Department Secretary David Tune issued a public statement advising that neither had examined the opposition's policies, and any modelling used for costing government policies could not credibly be applied to the federal opposition.

On Friday morning, Christopher Pyne said the departmental secretaries had ''torpedoed'' Labor's campaign.

''Kevin Rudd had built his campaign around attacking the Coalition on a negative way and what [the] Parliamentary Budget Office, Finance and Treasury did yesterday was call Kevin Rudd out to be a make-up artist and to have been lying about the Coalition's costings,'' Mr Pyne said.

''Anthony Albanese can say whatever he likes; yesterday Kevin Rudd confidently went out and accused the Coalition of having a $10 billion black hole; in the afternoon the objective heads of the department said that was utterly false.

''Kevin Rudd's campaign is in tatters today.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... z2dWdWfJrP" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[IQS.RLOW]

Kevni torpedoed his own boat and the two economic guidance systems told him he was a liar... Now his only tactic in his pathetic campaign, the "oooooohhhh what's Tony going to cut? Boogeda boogeda boogeda" will die with Kevvy in a week.

After that its sunshine and butterflies.

[mantra]

On Friday morning, Christopher Pyne said the departmental secretaries had ''torpedoed'' Labor's campaign.

''Kevin Rudd had built his campaign around attacking the Coalition on a negative way and what [the] Parliamentary Budget Office, Finance and Treasury did yesterday was call Kevin Rudd out to be a make-up artist and to have been lying about the Coalition's costings,'' Mr Pyne said.

And the Coalition are being sneaky. Of course people - including the government, will assume the worst as there is no detail from the opposition. That's because they haven't got a clue themselves and will cram in some dodgy figures 5 minutes before voting opens.

Abbott has ducked and weaved all through his campaign to avoid answering the hard questions.

[Rorschach]

That's right IQS and all the LW Progs will have to console themselves are the hundreds of childish images they created to ridicule the man who is the new PM.

Oh well, it gives them something to drool over I suppose.