Opposition Leader Bill Shorten delivered a scathing budget reply last night.

The focal points of Labor’s alternative budget were greater small business cuts and the slashing of university debts.

Toby Crockford reports.

TRANSCRIPT

From the outset, Bill Shorten made his displeasure of Joe Hockey’s budget clear.

Bill Shorten, Opposition Leader: “The truth is that the 2015 budget is silent on the big picture, the next decade, the long runs.”

Instead, Labor pledged to blow the Liberal’s small business tax cut out of the water.

Bill Shorten, Opposition Leader: “Not a 1.5%t cut, a 5% cut, that’s the future, that’s confidence.”

Labor also promised big investments in teaching and fee relief for some University degrees.

Bill Shorten, Opposition Leader: “We will train 25,000 new teachers who are science and technology graduates and we will write off the HECS debt of 100,000 science, engineering, technology and maths students.”

Bill Shorten, Opposition Leader: “Australia must get smarter, or we will get poorer.”

Prime Minister, Tony Abbott wasn’t impressed.

Tony Abbott, Prime Minister: “Our budget is a plan, what he gave us last night was an unfunded wishlist.”

Josh Frydenberg, Assistant Treasurer: “The numbers just don’t add up.”

And that’s the big question left unanswered from last night’s budget reply, how will Labor’s initiatives be paid for?

Bill Shorten only released a few of his party’s planned saving measures, but promised they are working on more.

Toby Crockford, QUT News.