Huge bill for Labor’s aspirational plans revealed

The Coalition will ramp up its attack on Labor’s economic credentials, as analysis shows its aspirational policies could cost taxpayers $302bn over a decade.

Labor’s suite of aspirational policies could cost taxpayers a whopping $302bn over a decade, according to a Coalition analysis that will be central to Scott Morrison’s campaign attack on Anthony Albanese.

The opposition’s policy platform includes sweeping commitments to increase Australia’s foreign aid budget, reform paid parental leave, boost our refugee intake and expand early childhood education.

But these promises — along with a long-term plan for a universal 90 per cent childcare subsidy and a potential increase to unemployment benefits — have not been costed by Labor.

It has prompted the government to produce its own analysis, which will be used by the Prime Minister to mirror his successful 2019 election offensive on Labor’s proposed $387bn tax hit.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham demanded transparency from Labor “about the costs of these vague promises and how they’re going to pay for them”.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s commitment to raise foreign aid may top $93bn over a decade. Picture: Toby Zerna

“Anthony Albanese is pretending to be a small target but even a quick glance at Labor’s rhetoric shows that he actually has a very big-spending agenda,” he said.

The biggest cost calculated by the government is Labor’s commitment to raise foreign aid funding to 0.5 per cent of gross national income, with the party’s platform vowing the aid budget will rise “every year that we are in office” to reach that mark.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher hit back on Tuesday morning, saying the Coalition’s analysis was “completely untrue, wrong, rubbish”.

She accused Senator Birmingham of running a “dodgy costings unit” out of his office and launching “another scare campaign”.

Senator Gallagher said the policies the government had included in its analysis were “not Labor’s policies”, and that all of the opposition’s commitments had been officially costed and would be detailed in full prior to the election.

Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers has affirmed Labor would “do better than the government” on foreign aid which “people can assess at the election”.

By the government’s maths, a linear increase to reach 0.5 per cent in four years would cost $19bn over that period, and $93bn over a decade.

On JobSeeker, the Labor leader said last year that “everyone should be above the poverty line” and vowed to consider increasing the rate in every budget if it was affordable and responsible.

Dr Chalmers said the opposition had not “come to a concluded view” on the Australian Council of Social Service plan to raise the rate by $24 a day. The government found that would cost $82bn over 10 years.

As recently revealed by the Herald Sun, Labor’s childcare and parental leave plans would cost an extra $63bn and $45bn over 10 years respectively.

The government also estimated it would cost $18bn over a decade to deliver on the opposition’s platform commitments to increase the number of humanitarian intake places in Australia’s refugee program, and expand early childhood education to two years before school.

“If you take these so-called aspirations at face value, Labor will be racking up tens of billions of dollars in additional spending every single year,” Senator Birmingham said.

Originally published as Huge bill for Labor’s aspirational plans revealed