The Numbers Game

Well, blow me down. I thought the numbers we were concentrating on involved the number of seats that Gillard and Abbott are horse-trading over in Canberra to see who gets the keys to The Lodge. But now there is another set. And for the Coalition they are not ‘a beautiful set of numbers’ as Paul Keating used to say.
 
The Treasury figures are out. They have costed the Coalition’s election promises and say there is a ‘black hole’ that could be as high as seven to eleven billion dollars.

No wonder Treasurer Wayne Swan dived on the news like a seagull on a hot chip. And no wonder Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey sounded flat on Mitchell this morning. Especially when Tony Windsor, one of the The Three Amigos, described the costings as ‘a black hole’ and talked about trust.

And yet Abbott, Hockey and Andrew Robb fronted the media today to claim their numbers are right, they stand by them and they will deliver in Government.

That these billion-dollar deficiencies are based on different interpretations.
Tony Abbott today was asked if this wasn’t a bad look in the midst of the delicate negotiations. Created a bad perception. Abbott said he wasn’t into debating perceptions. He was just ‘one of 22 million Australians’. Sure. But he is one of only two people trying to be prime minister. He he will get possession of the cash register.

To add to the fiscal puzzle, Tony Abbott claims that after four years (if he gets into office) the Treasury figures show that the Coalition will produce a surplus of around $800 million  compared to a Labor Government surplus of less than $200 million.

 The bottom line, to use those Canberra buzz words, is that the Coalition was  reluctant to let Treasury examine their books. And once they did they were found wanting.

I suspect though that out in the electorate people are suffering ‘pollie fatigue’. There’s a feeling of ‘get it over with’.  Either come up with a solution, form a sustainable government, or go back to the polls.

Right now we all seem to be staring down a black hole. And the view isn’t good.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2010