The Coalition's top economic spokesperson is unable to confirm the size of the opposition's planned public service and migration cuts, the taxpayer cost of building nuclear power plants, or how it would limit government spending.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor told the ABC's Insiders on Sunday there was "no ambiguity" the Coalition would reduce spending growth, migration, the public service, and long-term energy costs.

But just weeks out from the federal election, the opposition has yet to finalise specifics for any of these four centrepiece policies, with Mr Taylor suggesting they would be finalised only after Tuesday's federal budget.

"We're making promises we know we can afford, but we're going to see what is in the budget and how much headroom there is," he said.

Taylor walks back 25 per cent net migration cut

Mr Taylor declined to repeat the commitment he made in the wake of last year's budget that the Coalition would cut net migration by 25 per cent.

The opposition does plan to cut the number of permanent visas granted each year by 25 per cent, through cuts to the humanitarian program and other migration streams.

But there have been mixed signals about its plans for the net figure, which includes temporary entrants such as international students and short-term workers.

"International student numbers have broken all records … We'll put out [our] numbers when we see the budget, but what you can be clear about, no ambiguity about this, is it will be lower under us," Mr Taylor said.

Net migration has been at the centre of political debate since it exceeded half a million the year after the pandemic. Budget papers include a forecast for the figure, but not "targets" since the government does not directly control the size of temporary visa programs.

Labor sought to change this by legislating a cap on international student numbers but was forced to find alternatives after the Coalition voted against it.

Mr Taylor suggested he was not concerned if Australia's economy contracted after a cut, having been bolstered in recent years from the effects of migration.

"GDP per capita is the number that matters to Australians and it's gone backwards for seven consecutive quarters under this government," he said.

Taxpayer cost of nuclear plan unclear

The shadow treasurer said the Coalition's nuclear policy, which would see several nuclear plants built and owned by the government over the course of decades, would result in a 44 per cent reduction of energy costs over the long term compared to Labor's plans.

That figure comes from Coalition-commissioned modelling that Labor contests. The same modelling estimates the total system cost of the Coalition plan would be $331 billion.

Mr Taylor said "a significant portion" of the cost, including the cost of transmission lines, would be paid for by the private sector.

"Let's be clear, that's not all paid by government. A significant portion will be private sector investment … We'll restrict government's role to what is absolutely necessary, [such as] the seven nuclear generators.

"They'd cost [taxpayers] under $20 billion each. We've been clear about that."

Hint that public service cuts would number at least 36,000

Mr Taylor affirmed the Coalition's intention to return the number of public servants to the levels seen when it was last in office.

On current numbers, that implies a cut of 36,000 jobs, but Mr Taylor suggested that figure could increase.

"We don't know how many positions Labor has put in place. We'll find out more in the budget. The last number we had was 36,000. It's been growing more, we know that," he said.

"What we've been clear about is we want to get back to where we were when we were last in government. That shouldn't be in areas of frontline services. It should be in the back office areas."

Labor's increase to the public service headcount has included new staff to process the backlog of claims in the Department of Veterans' Affairs and new staff at Services Australia. It has also claimed budget savings from shifting work away from external consultants and back to the public service.

"The idea that there are people sitting around in Canberra doing nothing shows how out of touch Peter Dutton is," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Sunday.

Mr Taylor said there were "some amazing people in our public service, but a bigger team is not always a better team".

Pledge to limit spending growth

He also promised the Coalition would introduce a budget rule to limit the rate of government spending growth to no more than the growth rate of the economy.

"It's what we did when we were last in government and it worked," he said.

The latest budget figures show spending growth of 5.7 per cent in the current financial year, comfortably exceeding that limit, then falling below it for the next three years.

The Coalition's finance spokesperson Jane Hume said this would be achieved by taking further steps to limit the cost of fast-growing government spending programs such as the NDIS.

"We would hope that when Labor goes into opposition they would work with us [on further NDIS measures]," she said in a Sky News interview.

Asked whether the Coalition had a specific target for NDIS spending growth, which is currently forecast to be 8 per cent on average over the next decade, she said, "The most important thing is in the long-term that all government spending doesn't grow faster than the economy itself."

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that would mean "huge cuts to the NDIS and that would send a shiver up the spine of people who rely on the program". 

"We are way too late in the term for those characters to still be making it up as they go along," he said.

In an ABC interview, Mr Chalmers said Mr Taylor and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton were "falling apart before our eyes".

"They either haven't done the work or won't come clean on their secret cuts or both," he said.

Mr Taylor did not say whether the Coalition planned to increase defence spending. 

Mr Chalmers told the ABC Tuesday's budget would not see an increase in the overall level.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-23/coalition-public-service-migration-cuts/105085682

 

GUSNOTE: The Coalition's top economic spokesperson BEING ANGUS TAYLOR, WE NEED GOD*'S HELP TO SORT OUT THE MESS THAT THE COALITION IS PLANNING TO DO... WHAT WE SAW UNDER TONY DISASTER ABBOTT WILL LOOK LIKE A SUNDAY PICNIC...

*UNFORTUNATELY, GUS DOES NOT BELIEVE IN GOD, BUT HOPES THAT VOTERS WILL SEEK GOD'S HELP TO DESTROY THE COALITION'S CHANCES AT THE NEXT ELECTIONS......

 

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