By Naomi Woodley
But Mr Abbott also promised to keep $4 billion worth of tax cuts and pension increases associated with the carbon pricing scheme, despite reaffirming the Coalition's promise to make scrapping the carbon tax its first priority in government.
Finance Minister Penny Wong says the Opposition leader cannot be trusted.
"I think when it comes to nasty surprises, he made clear last night that his game plan is all about nasty surprises," Senator Wong told AM.
She seized on the Coalition's promise to conduct a comprehensive audit of all government spending if it wins the election in September.
"A commission of audit is nothing more than a commission for cuts, and he made clear last night where he would want to go, where Liberals always go, which is to hit working Australians," she said.
"That's what Liberals do, and that's what he made clear last night. And he will go further should he become prime minister."
Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten says the Opposition's plan to save $1.1 billion per year by delaying a planned increase in superannuation contributions will hurt low income workers the most.
"I worked out last night, that if you're a 30-year-old, earning average full-time wages, man or woman, the delay in the superannuation, if in fact they ever increase it at all, is going to cost you $20,000 by the time you retire," he told ABC News 24.
"Tony Abbott is going to make sure that the age pension will have to go up, and not enough people will have enough money to retire on."
Mr Abbott has conducted a media blitz this morning to sell his economic plan, emphasising that a Coalition government would not seek to surprise voters.
"It is 15 years or so since the last commission of audit, in fact it was something that the Howard government did very early on in its term," he told AM.
"This is something that does need to be done every couple of decades because it's important to be sure that government is doing only those things that people can't do for themselves."
The Opposition Leader used his speech to promise a Coalition government would develop white papers on the relationship between the federal and state governments, and the tax system.
He also adopted a cautious approach to any potential changes arising from those inquiries.
"We have no plans to change the GST, we don't intend to change the GST, anyone who wanted to change the GST, and that wouldn't be us, would have to get the agreement of every single state and territory because it is a state and territory tax," Mr Abbott told AM.
"Anything we might do arising from our white paper we would seek a mandate for, not at this election, but at the election after, we won't do anything without seeking a mandate," he said.
But Mr Abbott also revealed that the same approach would not apply to changes recommended by his audit of all government spending.
"Obviously we will not implement measures recommended by the commission of audit if we think they're inconsistent with our mandate, if we think that they would break faith with the Australian public," he told ABC News 24.
"This government has got itself into diabolical trouble with the public by constantly making commitments and then breaking them.
"We're not going to do that. And if there are recommendations from the commission of audit that are inconsistent with the commitments we've made to the public pre-election, then we won't do them."
Abbott's budget reply:
- The carbon tax would be abolished
- $4 billion worth of carbon tax compensation would remain, leaving income tax thresholds and pension rates unchanged
- This would be funded by deferring the increase to compulsory superannuation until 2021-22, saving $1.1 billion
- The mining tax would be cut
- Measures linked to mining tax would be cut, including supplementary allowance payments to people on welfare, saving $330 million
- Previously announced measures:
- Schoolkids Bonus to be cut, saving $1.2 billion
- 12,000 public service jobs to be cut, saving $1.75 billion
- Green Loans Scheme to be cut, saving $400 million
- Humanitarian migration intake increase would be scrapped, saving $500 million
N.B. (In other words Tony Abbott is saying trust me, exactly the same as what Campbell Newman said to us Queenslanders! - The Worker)
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