Australia faces “four more decades of debt” under the current Budget settings, Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a scathing National Press Club address on Tuesday.

Dr Chalmers accused the Federal Government of using cash handouts and temporary tax cuts to “shield” themselves from voters in the run up to the election, saying the Coalition’s Budget is designed only to deliver a “6-7 week political pay-off” and not deliver for future generations.

“Of all the failures in this Budget, all the drift and disappointment of the eight before it, the most glaring omission by far is the future,” he said. 

Citing the Federal Government’s 2021 intergenerational report, Dr Chalmers said more needs to be done to shore up wages growth and job security.

“If we do nothing to arrest our decline, we face an economy that’s smaller than expected, growing slower than before and saddled with four more decades of debt and deficits and that’s before we even factor in lower productivity growth at the most recent cycle under the Coalition,” he said. 

“In that more realistic case, the economy would be almost 10% smaller in 2060 and Australians would be $32,000 worse off each on average.”

Dr Chalmers did not provide further specific detail on how the Labor Party intends to manage and generate tax revenues despite recent criticism from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg over the issue.

Speaking to the ABC’s David Speers on Monday, Mr Frydenberg accused Dr Chalmers of wanting to be “flexible around tax” and avoid sharing the ALP’s plan before Australians head to the polls later this year. 

“He wants to have an election budget after the election,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“Well, the Australian people deserve to know what flexibility on tax means for Labor, not after the election, but before the election.”

Sources

• tveeder, Back Roads: Great Australian Road Trip
• The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Interview with David Speers, Insiders, ABC