Federal election 2016: Morrison retreats over Labor ‘black hole’

Scott Morrison claims to have “flushed out’’ Labor on funding promises.

Treasurer Scott Morrison holds a press conference in the Government Party Room at Parliament House, Canberra.

Scott Morrison has markedly pulled back from his “Labor’s black hole” overreach of Tuesday after claiming to have “flushed out” Labor on funding promises on foreign aid, school kids bonus and pension tests.

The Treasurer, for the second time in a week, has fronted a formal press conference in Canberra to launch a negative attack on Labor instead of standing in a factory in regional Australia and managed to put Labor on the back foot.

Morrison — while still saying Labor’s “black hole” could be as high as $67 billion — has stepped back from a range of estimates and zeroed in on the $18 billion in savings Labor blocked in the Senate during the Abbott government.

While it was clear the Coalition’s claims of Labor’s costings of promises were extravagant and inflated and endangered the Liberals’ claims to economic credibility, Morrison is saying Labor’s backflips on major policies were a result of those claims.

Certainly, Labor has been forced to clarify its promises on foreign aid, which had been made with Greens pledges in mind, as well as the School Kids bonus and the pension assets tests.

This is a victory for Morrison who has accused Labor of “cynical politics and fiscal recklessness” over the promises, but he is wise to wind up the rhetoric on the costings of Labor’s promises.

As he said this morning, there is a Labor black hole its just a matter of how big it is and making fantastic claims only serves to undermine his own credibility.

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