The recent Scott Morrison – Mathias Cormann media press conference accusing the Labor Party of having a $67 billion “black hole” in its budget costings was more than a farce. Their figures were based on suppositions, contradictions and misrepresentations rather than facts.

By the end of the conference Morrison settled for the vague ambit of between $32 billion and $67 billion. Some of the latest assessments are now suggesting that that figure is closer to $21 billion.

Given that Labor’s policies are not all out there it is premature to be traducing their budget bottom line.

Even though consensus suggests that the federal government still holds the upper hand for this election, this kind of desperate overreach suggests that panic may have set in.

Frank Carroll