He refused to specify which day he would visit the governor-general to call for the early election, but did tell the Seven Network that “this weekend is looking pretty good I would say, “yes”.
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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has claimed savings of $71 billion over ten years – most of it from rejecting nearly all the budget’s company tax cut – as the battle over funding escalated.
“However, in the face of continuing deficits, now is not the time to give the richest three per cent of Australians another tax cut on top of this”.
“Turnbull is hoping a solid budget that’s well received can act as a springboard for the election”, said Andrew Hughes, an Australian National University political analyst.
The government sought to prevent Labor from pocketing the savings from not proceeding with the company tax cuts that had formed the centrepiece of its budget by refusing to reveal what they cost over 10 years, saying the $5.3bn cost over the budget forward estimates were the only necessary figures to include.
“This is completely within the affordability markers we have set”, he said.
Labor supported the modest income tax cuts to prevent those earning $80,000 a year slipping into a higher tax bracket.
By avoiding drastic cuts to government spending and seeking to sprinkle limited sweeteners across different groups, Turnbull is trying to avoid the backlash that hammered Abbott’s government two years ago.
Vocational education loans would be capped at $8000 a student, to save $6 billion.
In the coming financial year, according to Mr Morrison’s budget papers, government debt will be $326 billion or 18.9 per cent of the value of Australia’s economy (known as Gross Domestic Product or GDP). The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) estimated this would improve the budget by $16 billion over the decade.
Both Mr Hockey and Mr Turnbull are self-made millionaires, with some suggesting this has made them oblivious to how everyday Australians live.
The Opposition Leader maintained his claim the government wants to dismantle Medicare.
“Our kids deserve the best possible chance to get the opportunities and I’d like to see we’d get that money back into our school system”.
However the announcement has copped a backlash from the opposition which said the funding commitment fell well short of the Gonski report which recommended funding for education required at least 3.45 billion U.S dollars.
“Coles is not a small business”.
And in a pointed reference to Malcolm Turnbull’s former career he said: “Goldman Sachs is not a small business”.
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“Instead of taking selfies on the train, we’ll get new projects under way”, Shorten said.
