Labor, Greens defend costings wait

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says Labor is hiding its costings, but the opposition insists it is playing by the rules.

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten

The Labor party has yet to submit its election policies for costing. (AAP)

Labor and the Greens have defended the fact their policy costings have yet to see the light of day, with just over a week until the election.

Under the Charter of Budget Honesty, the secretaries of Treasury and Finance may be asked to cost election commitments during the caretaker period.

All election commitment costings completed by the departments are posted on a website www.electioncostings.gov.au

Parties can also have the parliamentary budget office cost policies, with the documents posted on the PBO website.

While dozens of coalition policies have been posted on the Treasury-Finance website so far, along with one of independent senator Jacqui Lambie's policies, there are none from Labor or the Greens.

A Labor spokesman said the party's costings had all been done by the PBO before the election was called, so they were not obliged under the rules to be put on the website.

This was in line with what the coalition did in opposition in 2013, the spokesman said.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told AAP on Thursday it was "extraordinary" that no opposition policy had been submitted to Treasury and Finance.

"The government has submitted all our policies announced so far for costing by Treasury and Finance, openly and transparently and consistent with the requirements of the Charter of Budget Honesty," he said.

"The problem for Labor is that they don't know how to pay for their many unfunded spending promises.

"Unfunded promises before an election cannot be delivered after the election."

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has promised to release Labor's four-year and 10-year costings before election day, in what he says will be the most comprehensive release of its kind by an opposition.

The coalition at the 2013 election released its costings a day and a half out from the polls.

The PBO website currently only includes a Greens superannuation policy and Senator Lambie's veterans card costing.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said his party's plan was fully costed by the PBO.

It included spending of $123 billion offset by reducing "wasteful or harmful spending" of $63 billion and revenue measures worth $66 billion.

"Successive governments may have wasted the rivers of gold from the mining boom, but we can still fix the budget through responsible revenue and savings measures that will improve productivity," he told the National Press Club on Thursday.

A party spokesman said more policies were due to go on the PBO website in coming days.


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Source: AAP


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