Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has today again continued to dodge any tough economic decisions, trying to walk away from the $70 billion black hole his own economic team have found in their costings.
Speaking to CEDA in Melbourne, Mr Abbott described the $70 billion black hole in the Liberal Partys costings as a fanciful figure that had been nominated by Labor.
This figure was in fact first put into the public arena by the Seven Network, via minutes from the Oppositions own budget meetings.
It was confirmed by Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb on the ABC this month: We are saying that we need to identify up to $70 billion over the next four years. Mr Robb also described the figure as simple arithmetic.
Mr Abbotts treasury spokesman Joe Hockey also told Sunrise the morning after the Seven Network report went to air that the Opposition was looking at a shortfall in the budget of $50, $60 or $70 billion.
Both Mr Robb and Mr Hockey have been upfront about the fact that the Opposition needs to address a $70 billion black hole in their costings just to get back to square one.
Mr Abbott, however, has given no indication of how he will address this enormous hole in the budget and has even refused to nominate the fiscal task facing the Opposition.
Mr Abbott has also again relied on the so-called $50 billion savings package put forward by the Opposition at the last election. What he failed to mention was that this election package was independently found to have a $10.6 billion black hole.
Managing an economy requires the discipline and concentration to balance the books.
Cutting $70 billion is equivalent to stopping Family Tax Benefit payments for three years or cutting the age pension for two years. It is time for Mr Abbott to be clear with the Australian people about how he has got the books into this position, and how he will account for a black hole of this magnitude.