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Updated March 04, 2017 10:34:03

Pot. Kettle. Black.

With a week to election day, that simple sentiment calling out haughtiness and hypocrisy is threatening to torpedo the Barnett Government's attempts to demolish WA Labor's financial credibility.

The Liberals have been sharpening the edge of their economic attack, with the Premier and Treasurer staging a joint media conference this week to drive a stake into the heart of Labor's bid to win power.

But by choosing to fight on the contested ground of economic and financial management, the Barnett Government is wielding a double-edged sword, and with every strike at Labor's strategy, it also opens up the wounds of its own fiscal record.

"They don't have a debt reduction plan. They don't have a plan to reduce expenditure and a large range of the revenue measures simply are fake," Treasurer Mike Nahan told reporters, urging them to interrogate Labor's figures.

He was backed by Premier Colin Barnett who defended the Liberals' record debt, forecast to exceed $41 billion by the end of the decade.

"Yet, through this time, while state debt has risen, the net assets of the West Australian Government have increased by about $70 billion," he said.

"Western Australia has never had as much wealth in government as it has today."

The Liberal Party's narrative is simple: Labor's plans are fake. We have built great things. Now trust us to pay them off.

But if the narrative is simple, so are the numbers that tell a different story, and serve as a damning report card on the state of WA's finances:

So while the Liberals will be striving to slam-dunk Labor over the costings of its promises and plans, the Liberals can expect to be hammered by Labor chanting debt-and-deficit-disaster all the way to polling day.

The Liberals plan to release their Treasury-assessed costings mid-week and are eager to get their hands on Labor's "independently" assessed figures, after WA Labor refused to submit them to Treasury.

Shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt has made it clear Labor intends to give no quarter on finances or costings, and take no advice from the Liberal leadership.

"Colin Barnett has had access to Treasury every single day, yet he still managed to drive the finances of the state off a cliff," Mr Wyatt said.

Labor's relentless attack on the Government's financial record is likely to blunt the Liberals' attempts to cast Labor as financially incompetent, or expose gaping holes in Labor's costings.

It appears likely to cloud the Liberals' deep concerns about Labor's debt reduction strategy, which appears to be based on criteria that will ensure it makes no dent in debt before the end of the decade.

Dr Nahan has acknowledged the difficulty of making the Government's case, but said hard choices await whoever wins on March 11, and only the Liberals are equipped to make them.

"The next government faces a real challenge. When Labor was in power last time, they were awash with money. We had plenty of money the first term, and we've been trying to go through structural change now," he said.

"The next government faces a real fiscal challenge. That is reducing debt, moving the budget to surplus, and at the same time continue to invest in [the] infrastructure this state needs."

Labor will have its chance to use its independent costings to combat the Government's criticism and convince sceptics its financial plan stacks up and can deliver on its promises.

Armed with its own Treasury-assessed figures, the Liberals will make their case and target Labor's costings which they insist are based on flawed assumptions and unsubstantiated revenue sources.

What the Liberals will not have is the Treasury analysis to help them do it.

Topics: government-and-politics, elections, perth-6000, wa

First posted March 04, 2017 10:11:25

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WA Liberals wield double-edged sword as they target Labor's election promise costings - ABC Online