Our pork barrels runneth over

MORE than $7 billion in taxpayer-funded freebies and giveaways have been lavished on voters in the lead up to Saturday’s election.

The spendathon — equivalent to the Department of Justice’s annual budget — includes Labor’s promise of free baby bundles and dental care for children and Coalition commitments to discount TVs and car registration for P-platers.

Official costings will be released today to show how the major parties will pay for their promises and whether cuts will be needed to make room in the budget.

It comes as RMIT analysis found that the cost of Labor promises so far would total about $13.7 billion over the next four years — a 25.5 per cent increase on promises made before the 2014 election.

The Coalition’s promised cash splash is tipped to cost about $10.3 billion over the next term but many of its policy costings have not yet been released.

RMIT Professor David Hayward warned that election freebies risked looking “tacky” and, in isolation, did little to sway voters.

“Sometimes what seems like a clever pitch is seen by voters as a cynical political promise,” he said. “People don’t mind their taxpayer money being spent but they want their money spent on worthy causes. They hate waste.

“And it is the broader message, rather than the specifics of individual promises, that will win the day.”

With a sharp increase in the cost of pre-election commitments, Prof Hayward said voters were expecting to benefit from the state’s strong economy. “People are sick of the politics of austerity and the promise of parties to balance the books,” he said.