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Election 2016: Chris Bowen to name a date for return to budget balance under Labor
By James Massola and Chief Political Reporter
Chris Bowen will promise to name the date Labor will bring the budget back to balance by the end of the 2016 election campaign.
Mr Bowen's commitment will be made in Friday's lunchtime debate with Treasurer Scott Morrison at the National Press Club in Canberra.
The shadow treasurer will also say the opposition will not necessarily spend as much as the Coalition will promise to during the remaining five weeks of the election campaign. This may allow Labor to promise a stronger budget bottom line by the end of campaign, a move designed to head off the government's attack on the opposition over economic competence.
On current projections, the return to budget balance is expected in 2020-21.
Labor's treasury spokesman Chris Bowen.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Labor insiders said Mr Bowen's speech would set out more details about what the ALP's alternative budget bottom line would include, such as four year and medium-term projections.
The heads of the Treasury and Finance departments warned both sides of politics last week that big spending cuts, or higher taxes, will be essential if the budget is to be returned to surplus.
The Coalition this week claimed a $67 billion 'black hole' in Labor's costings but that is likely nearer to $22 billion. The government included a claim Labor would spend $19.2 billion on foreign aid, when it will actually spend $800 million over four years, a mistake that embarrassed Mr Morrison.
But the Treasurer was triumphant on Thursday after Labor backed down on its promises to restore the Schoolkids Bonus, reverse changes to the pensions assets test and not restore aged care funding.
That amounts to about $9.2 billion extra that Labor will not spend, while the ALP has also left open the prospect of adopting or agreeing to about $2 billion worth of revenue that will be raised by government superannuation changes.
On Friday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was on the back foot over when and how it was decided to dump the Schoolkids Bonus and whether a car crash interview by embattled frontbencher David Feeney had brought forward the decision.
He twice refused to say whether shadow cabinet had been consulted over the move.
In an attempt to put pressure back on the government, Mr Shorten called on Mr Turnbull to guarantee Mr Morrison would remain as Treasurer after the election should the Coalition retain government.
Mr Turnbull said everything the government announced during the campaign would be fully costed and that "is the big difference between us and our friend with the spend-o-meter".
"Scott Morrison will be the Treasurer after the election and he will be so busy working with me and the rest of our team as we implement our national economic plan for jobs and growth," he said.
"As we have seen Mr Shorten do a back flip just yesterday on $8 billion of spending, $8 billion of promises they would fight for right up to the day of the election, they did a quick back flip on that and apparently [he] didn't consult his shadow cabinet about it."