Kevin Rudd’s grand plans for a National Broadband Network (NBN) will come to nothing with Tony Abbott preparing to slash Government spending if the Liberal Party wins the next federal election.
Tony Abbott will take the axe to the $43 billion NBN as the Liberal Party plans to cuts Government spending by $10 billion in an effort to pay off the debt accumulated by Kevin Rudd’s government through fiscal stimulus measures designed to keep the Australian economy out of recession during the global financial crisis.
“I won’t specify yet what might be targeted, but if you want to cut spending, look at the NBN,” Mr Abbott told News Ltd.
“Not proceeding with it could save billions of dollars.” he said.
The Minister responsible for rolling out the NBN, Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy was critical of Abbott’s proposed cuts to the program.
“The NBN is crucial economic infrastructure,” Senator Conroy Said.
“Without it, Australian companies will not be able compete with the likes of Japan, Korea or Singapore.”
Up to 25,000 jobs are under threat if Tony Abbott cuts the NBN funding Senator Conroy believes.
Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott attacked Kevin Rudd’s economic credentials in an interview yesterday before the release of the Henry Tax Review, which Tony Abbott argued was a stealth method of increasing tax revenue for the Government.
“It’s a government so addicted to spending, the longer it lasts, the better the Whitlam government looks,” he said.
“What we are doing at the moment is looking at Mr Rudd’s spendathon, working out where we can reduce that spending spree and pay for our sensible policies,” he told the Seven Network on Wednesday.
“We certainly think there are better ways to spend money on schools than giving it to the state education bureaucracies, which have wasted so much money hand over fist,” he said.