Turnbull stresses 'moral challenge' of budget repair, calls on Labor to commit to savings
Updated
The Federal Government is ratcheting up pressure on Labor to quickly pass a package of $6.1 billion of savings over four years, publicly releasing all details of its omnibus bill.
Key points:
- Malcolm Turnbull describes budget repair as a 'fundamental moral challenge'
- Government has released an omnibus bill containing 24 savings measures
- Labor says it will examine the bill before agreeing to support it
Labor said it was waiting to see the detail of the Government's proposal before stating whether it would support the bill, which includes spending cuts Labor already pledged to either support or consider.
The bill, which is set to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday by Treasurer Scott Morrison, includes 24 savings measures which are "part of a concerted strategy to demonstrate immediate and tangible progress towards fiscal repair".
"Working to balance the budget will restore the buffers that protect Australia against the economic shocks and uncertainties that might otherwise threaten our future success," the bill overview states.
It says all the savings in the legislation were announced in the Federal Government's last term and that "the Opposition assumes passage of in its election costings document".
The Prime Minister has doubled down on his economic message ahead of the return of Parliament, describing budget repair as a "fundamental moral challenge".
The language shadows the rhetoric of former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, who declared climate change "the greatest moral, economic and environmental challenge of our generation", ahead of the 2007 election.
Malcolm Turnbull revived a well-worn set of his own political talking points in his party room address to MPs and senators, telling them "the time for hiding under the doona is over".
Labor says it will honour election promises but wants to scour the details of the package of bills before agreeing to the Government's request.
"This represents savings which the Labor Party committed to during the election, and we asked them to support them, to be true to their word in this Parliament," Mr Turnbull said.
"We are asking them to do no more than to vote in the Parliament for the savings they appropriated for their own purposes during the election campaign."
Topics: federal-government, federal-parliament, turnbull-malcolm, budget, australia
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