Opposition Has No Alternative Plan to Fund Flood Package

04 February 2011

Tony Abbott continues to show his opposition to the Gillard Governments flood rebuilding package is just pure politics.
Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have repeatedly promised to release their savings options in the next few days, before Parliament resumes.
Mr Hockey gave his word last week: "We will offer alternatives to the flood levy, the $1.8 billion. We will outline those before Parliament resumes."
And Mr Abbott has claimed that finding billions of dollars in budget cuts could be done easily.
But we are yet to see the Oppositions alternative plan.
Mr Abbotts failure to release his savings options highlights that since day one, he has played politics with this crisis.
He has no credibility when it comes to savings, following his $10.6 billion black hole in election costings. For example, he has suggested the Government should cut investment in the National Broadband Network, when it is clear this funding cannot be used for recurrent expenditure.
This is a time for all Australians to work together to help flood affected areas, not a time to score political points.
The Governments package to rebuild flood-affected regions is the right thing to do and we will introduce the necessary legislation into the federal Parliament next week, when Parliament resumes.