Following Mr Beazley's performance on the Channel Nine Sunday program this morning two questions remain unanswered.
1. Is Labor committed to the funding outlined by the Government for the White Paper?
2. Will Mr Beazley rule out slashing Defence funding if Labor is elected?
Mr Beazley told Laurie Oaks that a Labor Government could pay for its promises by redirecting current Howard Government spending.
"...they give plenty of ice for an opposition to skate on. And it's not just the Opposition saying that...now a fellow like Saul Eslake. Now I don't agree with all of Saul Eslake's suggestions I might say as to how Labor might do it, but he points out that when people are putting out new outlays of something like $25 billion over four years there's plenty of ice for an Opposition to skate on if it's looking for a cool two or three billion." (Kim Beazley talking to Laurie Oaks, SUNDAY program May 27, 2001)
Saul Eslake had been asked on the 7.30 Report last Tuesday to nominate areas Labor might cut to fund its promises. He said:
"The decision, for example, to scrap indexation of petrol which costs $2.5 billion over four years, running at $1 billion per annum, by the fourth year of the Budget horizon. They could look at some of the expenditure totaling $5 billion over four years in the Defence White Paper, that they might not think was necessary. Over the next three years, the private health insurance rebate is going to be costing over $2 billion per annum. They may feel it's justified to reallocate some of that back into the public health system." (ANZ Chief Economist Saul Eslake to Fran Kelly, ABC 7.30 Report May 22, 2001)
Kim Beazley claims to have ruled out tampering with the private health insurance rebate. It is difficult to see how he could reintroduce indexation of petrol.
The remaining option mentioned by Saul Eslake is scrapping the Defence White Paper forward procurement program.
By his own statement this morning Mr Beazley has placed a large question mark over an ALP Government funding the White Paper in its entirety.
In early March Kim Beazley's Defence spokesperson Stephen Martin told the West Australian Newspaper, "Labor's Defence policy for this year's federal election would not be decided until after the budget."
The budget has now been delivered and Mr Beazley should announce his policy so we can have answers to these questions.
