It just doesn't add up then. It really doesn't. Again, the public's right to know is being compromised.
Our fear is that the government is going to balance the books on purely ideological grounds after the next federal election, cutting and hacking and slashing things like KAIROS and things that they ideologically oppose, instead of through some reason or logic. The public has a right to know if that's their plan before the next federal election. It's like pulling teeth, getting the most basic information out of people.
This is not a plan to reduce any significant amount...we would expect you to use this amount of prudence and probity every year. It's not an especially aggressive savings strategy. This is just good management, where you look for efficiencies and better delivery. We expect that continuous improvement every year from every government department. But we're still trying to find the answer to our question, “How do they plan to pay down the deficit?” They're determined not to tell us until the public goes to the polls again.
In fact, they're advertising a bunch of falsehoods, saying they will be in the black. They say, “Give us one majority government and we'll be in the black.” Nobody in the world believes them, including the IMF. We can't even get from our senior bureaucrats what the real plan is. That's the frustration we have here, with all due respect.
We appreciate your presentation, but it doesn't satisfy our problem.