SIR, First we are told by Mr Keating that expenditure has been "cut to the bone" and that there is no room for further cuts. Now the Minister for Finance says "there is room for a substantial number of cuts" and another minister is reported as saying that "some slackness has crept into the system". What is going on in Canberra? Does anyone know what the real picture is? Mr Beazley says that, prior to the May Budget, we must not expect the Government "to go into detail" beyond the statement made by Treasurer Willis on January 31. But that statement contained only the revised aggregate figures for expenditure, revenue and the deficit in 1994-95. No details were given of the revised estimates for each of the various expenditure functions and, contrary to what was once the practice, no revisions were provided to the forward estimates for the succeeding two years. The last occasion on which revised forward estimates were published was in February 1993 in the mid-year review for that financial year. So, we are now still to be kept in the dark as to the base from which the Government will be making its decisions.
More generally, there is a strong case for the Government to issue a paper setting out the spending and revenue options for reducing the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office in the US has issued such a document in order to assist public discussion and debate about the pros and cons of the various options.
There is no doubt that the Departments of Treasury and Finance could fairly quickly produce such a document here and the Government should proceed to arrange for it forthwith.
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