Party Games: Costings are now the ‘must hold’ election campaign set piece

OPINION: There are many things in election campaigns which have become institutionalised and will remain forever mysterious. The whole “costings” argument is high on this list.

Chris Bowen and Tony Burke comment on Government costings at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Ray Strange

THERE are many things in election campaigns which have become institutionalised and will remain forever mysterious.

The whole “costings” argument is high on this list.

There must have been a time when these “costings” events were not held but they are now one of the must hold set pieces.

In recent campaigns — certainly since the 1990s — they have become pivotal and matters of intense but usually opaque dispute.

Treasurer Scott Morrison and Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann announce the coalition government's election costings. The coalition is banking on a new welfare crackdown and savings from unspent transport and community funds. Picture: Adrian Muscat

This campaign might be ridiculously long but we have finished with the “costings” in the final week, with Labor releasing its set of numbers on Sunday and the Coalition following that up with another page of figures yesterday.

The fact the set pieces are so late in the campaign is the mystery here because the “costings” — especially the details — are hard to comprehend and of little interest to about 98 per cent of the population.

Labor’s effort was the real humdinger because just six days before most people will vote they’ve shown how they are going to drive the budget into a deficit that’s $16.5 billion more than the Coalition.

At the same time they’re walking away from fighting for what were “die in the ditch” battles such as tens of billions of dollars in savings Tony Abbott first proposed from slashing health spending, public sector cuts and also superannuation changes.

This is not reassuring for voters who are looking for strong and credible economic management and has contributed to what is starting to look like a weakening of Labor in the final week.

The Coalition’s Scott Morrison released his “costings” which looked a bit better than Labor’s — there was an overall $1.1 billion improvement in the budget bottom line although it comes from yet another welfare crack down.

The impression voters get — which is all most people go on — is that Labor can’t get its budget house in order and can’t be trusted on commitments.

The apparent backflips on promises this week come after the retreat on the abolition of the schoolkids’ bonus — something Labor has campaigned to keep for three years — is likely to have some an impact on what happens for Labor leaders regardless of Saturday’s outcome.

Both Bill Shorten and his treasury spokesman Chris Bowen have taken serious hits on their own credibility this week. There will be future consequences.

Don’t miss Dennis Atkins and Malcolm Farr’s election podcast Two Grumpy Hacks, available for free on iTunes or Soundcloud.

Originally published as Party Games: Costings are now the ‘must hold’ election campaign set piece