This was published 8 years ago
Election 2016 treasurers' debate: Scott Morrison and Chris Bowen aim low in inspiration stakes
By Mark Kenny Chief Political Correspondent
We learned four things from Friday's treasurers' debate at the National Press Club.
First, that the Coalition is flagging further spending cuts above its $1.7 billion worth of net savings, with Scott Morrison agreeing it will not be enough to eat into the deficit, saying "that's why we need to continue down the path when and if we are re-elected".
Post-election fiscal savagery is a dangerous idea coming from the party that brought you the odious 2014 budget which broke so many promises.
Second, that Labor too cannot escape the reality that a chronic fiscal shortfall has increased the risk of a triple-A credit downgrade - an implicit admission that harsher spending cuts will be required whoever wins.
Treasurer Scott Morrison handed down his first budget in early May.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Third, that pound-for-pound, the two alternatives sitting behind Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten are pretty evenly matched as well as being self-assured, competent, and sufficiently credentialled to do a serviceable job with the exchequer.
This was no given.
Many forget that Labor's Chris Bowen was treasurer-proper in Kevin Rudd's brief and shambolic Mark II administration in 2013, holding the post just long enough to cut longstanding tax benefits on new company cars and pre-tax leases, sparking a disastrous fight with the automotive industry.
And even though Scott Morrison has now handed down a generally well-received budget, the rookie Treasurer experienced a messy run-up to it characterised by clumsy messaging and being variously over-ruled, undermined, and ignored on decisions relating to GST and state taxation, and even the budget's release date.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen.Credit: Andrew Meares
Even this week, Morrison's all-too-ready fight reflex saw him over-egg Labor's spending plans ("lie" would be another term), forcing him to admit to a massive multi-billion dollar exaggeration.
Each man therefore, had something to prove when they fronted up for what turned out to be a more entertaining debate than expected.
Illustration: Ron Tandberg
While it may have been niche television for the dedicated politico only, the lively exchanges made for a successful set-piece confrontation in which each man will be happy to have come away undiminished.
Which highlights the fourth thing we learned.
A distinct absence of big ideas of the scope paraded by treasurers past reveals the 2016 contest to be a depressingly ground-dwelling affair, where not even the rhetoric can soar, let alone the reforms.
Invited to inspire, Bowen came closest linking Labor's plans for education spending to future productivity. Morrison stuck to a 10-year business tax cuts plan for jobs and growth.