Coalition ramps up budgetary battle

The coalition has ramped up its budgetary battle against Labor, demanding police
investigate the leaking of a Treasury document.
It vowed not to cost 20 policies until the source is revealed.
But the government, which made its single biggest promise of the federal election
campaign so far in the form of $2.1 billion for western Sydney rail, accused the
opposition of finding yet another excuse to stop its spending being scrutinised.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey upped the ante on Wednesday, calling for an
Australian Federal Police investigation into how the confidential Treasury paper
ended up public.
The coalition expects to see a $2.44 billion budget saving from scrapping Labor's
National Broadband Network because of the interest it would not have to pay.
However, Treasury analysis, dated July 5, cast doubt on the figure, saying the
savings would only be $1.6 billion, leaving an $800 million discrepancy, Fairfax
reported on Tuesday.
Mr Hockey charged Treasurer Wayne Swan or the Treasury of leaking the secret document.
"Because of this leak from the government, there is a serious question that needs a
police investigation into the integrity of information being held by the
government," he told reporters.
Coalition finance spokesman Andrew Robb took the opposition's gripe even further,
vowing to withhold 20 coalition policies from budget costings until the source of
the leak was investigated.
"We're not going to be used as political patsies by a treasurer who is complicit in
the leak of a very serious Treasury document and in the process someone who is
aiding and abetting what looks like a criminal act," he told reporters in Melbourne.
Labor frontbencher Nicola Roxon said the opposition was using every excuse in the
book not to price its policies, which must be submitted to the finance department or
Treasury by Friday if they are to be costed and released before the August 21 poll.
"Policy after policy is coming out with big question marks over the opposition's
ability to actually fund their commitments," she told reporters in Canberra.
The government's campaign spokesman Chris Bowen said the coalition was protecting
its "ramshackle" policies from independent costing.
"This is because they know full well that the results of the independent costing
process will show that their sums just don't add up," he said in a statement to AAP.
Meanwhile, Labor indulged in a cash splash of its own, with Prime Minister Julia
Gillard pledging, if she retained the top job, to help build a rail link with the
NSW government that would benefit people living in western Sydney, a key election
battleground.
Ms Gillard said the target completion date for the Parramatta to Epping project was
2017.
"This is an important and affordable investment," she said.
Ms Gillard also announced a number of planned welfare reforms that would see the
long-term unemployed get up to $6000 to relocate to regional areas for work,
employers given a $2500 incentive to hire them, and stricter compliance measures for
those on benefits.
Mr Hockey accused her of stealing the coalition's policy.
"I'm quite astounded at how much their policy looks like ours," he said.
"Julia Gillard stole Kevin Rudd's job - now Julia Gillard is stealing (Opposition
Leader) Tony Abbott's policies."
Mr Abbott kept his focus on water, promising $751.1 million to help the ailing
Murray-Darling Basin.
His two-pronged attack would see $400 million spent on boosting stores in NSW's
Menindee Lakes, potentially saving up to 200 billion litres of water a year.
While further downstream, the aim was to boost the Coorong, near the mouth of the
Murray River, by delivering some 100 billion litres of water.