Consecutive Aussie PMs failing to establish "economic narrative": long-serving Treasurer

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The longest-serving Treasurer in Australia's history has criticized the government for its lack of "economic narrative."

 

Peter Costello served as Treasurer for 11 years between 1996 and 2007 and as deputy leader of the Liberal Party between 1994 and 2007, 11 years of which it was the nation's governing party.

 

He said the party's inability to establish an economic narrative under its last three leaders had led to it becoming fractured on social lines.

 

That fracture was instrumental in the downfall of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who lost the party leadership to Scott Morrison in August after the conservative wing of the party rebelled against his socially progressive agenda.

 

"I was deputy leader of the Liberal Party for 14 years and I didn't know that we had a right faction and a left faction and, if we did, nobody invited me to join either of them," Costello said in a speech on Thursday evening.

 

"One thing you could always unite the Liberal Party around in my time was the economic narrative.

 

"(Turnbull's) failure to develop the economic narrative that he said he would meant (Liberal's) defined themselves on social issues."

 

Morrison, who served as Treasurer under Turnbull, is the third leader of the Liberal Party since it won power in the 2013 general election following on from the conservative Tony Abbott and progressive Turnbull.

 

The PM on Thursday revealed his plan to fast-track tax cuts for small and medium-sized businesses by five years at a cost of 3.2 billion Australian dollars (2.2 billion U.S. dollars).

 

Under the new plan, the tax cuts will be introduced by 2021 rather than the previously planned 2026.

 

However, Costello described the proposal as "very, very weird."

 

"We can't deliver in this term so we will make you promises on what we will do three terms from now," he said, referring to the fact that the Liberal Party is facing a likely defeat to the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the 2019 election.

 

"I think it is very, very weird. It's weird, it's a parallel universe and if anybody believes it you are silly. The only chance of holding a government accountable is something that they will do during their term."


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