Tony Abbott has today again failed to deliver upon his commitment to unveil alternative funding measures to fund the flood recovery.
Both Mr Abbott and Joe Hockey have repeatedly promised over the past week to release their savings options before Parliament resumes.
In a press conference on 27 January, Mr Abbott said: "We will certainly have more to say in coming days about where the Government could find the $1.8 billion other than through this new tax."
Yet today on ABC Insiders when he was asked about his alternative plan, Mr Abbott deferred again: "Well have more to say about this in the coming days."
Mr Abbott also claimed on 2UE on 27 January that finding billions of dollars in budget cuts could be done easily.
Now he says today: "Its never easy to find savings."
Mr Abbott is not serious about finding genuine savings and he is not serious about putting forward a credible alternative plan. His failure to keep his word shows he is focused on doing whatever is most politically convenient for him, not on what is in the best interests of Australians affected by the floods.
Mr Abbott has no credibility when it comes to savings. The last time he unveiled a package of savings measures, during the election campaign, Treasury and the Department of Finance found a $10.6 billion black hole.
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 this week.