Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. The only confirmed unfunded promises and the only confirmed targeting for cuts is the $70 billion in cuts to services that the shadow minister for finance and the shadow Treasurer have both confirmed on national television. That is $70 billion of cuts to services, confirmed by Mr Hockey and Mr Robb. The only confirmed unfunded set of promises that we have at the moment is from those from the other side. Of course, the thing that Senator Cormann fails to recognise is that there is actually only one party in this place prepared to honour Peter Costello's Charter of Budget Honesty, despite the fact that Senator Fifield and Senator Brandis constantly tell us what a wonderful Treasurer Mr Costello was and how we should be emulating him. Here they come now, the fan club, but the problem is they are not actually going to honour his Charter of Budget Honesty. So it is up to the Labor Party to honour Peter Costello's Charter of Budget Honesty, but those opposite who claim to have sat at his feet and learnt the issue of fiscal policy—