Fed: Labor denies it has made $20bn in election promises

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2007
Fed: Labor denies it has made $20bn in election promises

CANBERRA, April 17 AAP - The federal Labor Party has denied it has made $20 billion
worth of election promises since Kevin Rudd took on the leadership last December.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin claims the opposition leader has made, on average, $147
million in election promises every day since he became Labor leader.

"We've been keeping a close check in my office on the promises that Mr Rudd's been
making since he became leader just 135 days ago and so far our assessment is that he has
made about $20 billion in promises," Senator Minchin told ABC Radio today.

"(This) is a fairly alarming sign of the extent to which Labor would lose control of
government spending in office and the extent to which Labor is going to try to buy this
election."

But Labor's treasury spokesman Wayne Swan says the finance minister has mixed up his figures.

"I haven't seen the detail of his figures but there is no way in the world that his
claims could be correct at that level," Mr Swan told ABC Radio.

"I don't think the figures have got any sort of credibility whatsoever.

"I mean, this comes from Nick Minchin, who put out a $10 billion water plan without
it even seeing the light of day in the treasury and in the finance department."

Mr Swan said Labor would detail its policies well ahead of the federal election, with
details on how it will fund them.

But he said the opposition is wary the government will keep on spending freely right
up to the polls.

"This government has been out there spending like a drunken sailor and is planning
to engage in another huge spending spree prior to the election - they've got no credibility
whatsoever," MR Swan said.

"What this is is another desperate camouflage on what they're actually doing themselves
which is a plan to actually spend their way through to the next election which will put
upward pressure on inflation and upward pressure on interest rates."

AAP kc/cjh/jlw

KEYWORD: POLL PROMISES

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