Coalition delivers $22b risk assessment of Labor-Greens alliance in new offensive
A Labor/Greens alliance would put a $22b hole in the Budget with a string of Greens policies it would try to force through a hung parliament, according to the Coalition.
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THE cost of a Labor/Greens alliance would inflict a further $22 billion hole in the Budget with a string of Greens policies it would try to force through a hung parliament, according to the Coalition.
Today the government will launch a new offensive against the prospect of a minority Labor/Greens government with a 23-page dossier on what it claims are “dirty deals” between the two parties.
It comes in the wake of a preference deal announced on Monday in which the Greens and Labor would swap preferences in 139 lower house seats — a record number — and in the Senate race.
The Coalition, which has said it would preference the Greens last, will launch an online and social media attack ad campaign today aimed at what it claims were the horrors of the Gillard/Greens alliance.
The Coalition document cites 25 Labor candidates who have thrown support behind an end to the coal industry. It includes Labor frontbenchers who have called for the end of coal, along with NSW Labor candidates Peter Hayes (North Sydney), Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro) and Andrew Woodward (Warringah).
The internal Labor green faction, the Labor Environment Action Network, has been slowly building pressure within the ALP to bring an end to the coal industry.
The document also claims that Labor was “greening” from the inside with at least two Labor candidates having formerly run in past elections as Greens candidates.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has made a formal pledge, published in The Daily Telegraph, that he would not repeat the Gillard era and vowed not to form an alliance with the Greens in the remote chance of a hung parliament.
But with Labor needing 21 seats to win government, few in the ALP believe they would be able to govern without the support of independents or the Greens if they managed to get in striking distance of the Coalition.
Treasurer Scott Morrison, who will spearhead the attack, said: “When Labor have to choose between what’s right for the economy and not upsetting the Greens, the economy always loses under Labor. This means every time Labor seeks to keep the Greens happy for their own political ends, it costs our economy, which is bad news for jobs and growth.
“Labor has embraced the Greens’ anti-business agenda with higher taxes on small and medium-sized businesses as well as increasing taxes on income and investment.
“Labor has done a deal with the Greens before the election to exchange preferences, which means they will have no problem doing a deal after an election to form a government together, just like last time.”
The Greens added to an already spiralling bill yesterday announcing they would push to increase the foreign aid budget to 0.7 of gross national income.
The budget office cost this latest policy at $8 billion over four-year forward estimates.
Originally published as Coalition delivers $22b risk assessment of Labor-Greens alliance in new offensive
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