Who:  “The budget impact of the Coalition’s policies is to improve the budget bottom line by $6 billion and reduce government debt by $16 billion.” Joint media release from Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and Shadow Minister for Finance, Deregulation and Debt Reduction, Andrew Robb. The claim: That Coalition policies will reduce the deficit over the

Who: “Most of all, I fear an Australian economy which through Mr Abbott’s massive cuts would risk triggering the economy into recession with huge hits on jobs and huge hits on growth,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd The claim: That the cuts the opposition is proposing could trigger a recession in Australia. The facts: According to

Who: “Almost certainly if people were fleeing the Syrian conflict, they would not be coming to Australia as a country of first asylum. “Any person fleeing Syria landing up in Australia would be in much the same position as the Hazaras and others who are coming by boat.” Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. The claim: Australia

Who: “[CSG mining] can secure the more than 15,000 industrial jobs which are dependent on gas supply as a feedstock, and the further of 2.5 million people who are employed by those companies who use natural gas for power. However, it will require putting in place solutions today and not waiting for tomorrow.” James Baulderson; Santos

Who: “[Asylum seekers are] a hot topic here because our traffic is overcrowded…go sit on the M4, people see 50,000 people come in by boat.” Liberal Candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott. The claim: The arrival of asylum seekers is putting pressure on traffic in the electorate of Lindsay. The facts: According to the UNHCR 34,963

Who: “It will be the highest aid budget in Australian history.” Bob Carr. The Claims: The 2013-14 aid budget will be the highest in history. The Facts: In absolute dollar figures the 2013-14 aid budget will be the highest in history. However, this does not take inflation into account. Relative to Australia’s Gross National Income

Who: “Australia’s emissions intensity has reduced by about 50 per cent over the last two decades” Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. The claim: That Australia’s emissions intensity has fallen by 50 per cent in two decades. The facts: According to the latest ABS figures Australia’s emissions intensity has fallen by 28 per cent between 1989-90 and

The export gas multinationals are no friend of Australian manufacturing. There is only one reason that the gas prices are set to at least double over the next few years – gas export companies will force Australian consumers to compete with the Asian market for gas. That’s the true cost of opening up coal seam

Who: “Today we were with a typical Central Coast family… to talk about the cost of living pressures that they face … for the average family in Australia today costs are going up and up and up.” Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. The claim: The cost of living in Australia is increasing. The facts: According to

Who: “We’ve said the public service here in Canberra has to be reduced by 12,000 over the first two years as a starting point.” Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey. The claim: The Coalition will cut 12,000 jobs from the public sector in Canberra. The facts: Joe Hockey and others in the Coalition leadership say they will

When Ford announced it would close its Melbourne plant at a cost of about 1200 jobs, the nation went into shock. But where is that shock now as Tony Abbott promises to shed at least 12,000 more public-sector jobs than Labor? What’s worse is that he’s making this pledge in the middle of an election

Who: “Now, the thing about private health insurance is it’s lower income people that work really hard to hang onto their private health insurance, because it gives them choice and it gives them a sense of security about their healthcare. And they’ve been punished by a lot of changes that Labor has made.” Shadow Treasurer,

Who: “The average industrial period of lost time … is one third of what it was in the Labor five and a half years compared to the Howard ten and a half years.” Minister for Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten. The claim: Days lost to industrial action during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government is one third of the

Who: “If we were to build this entire 1,748km high-speed rail project by 2035 it would cost less than Mr Abbott’s unaffordable, unfair paid parental leave scheme over the same period of time,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The claim: Building the high-speed rail project over 21 years would cost less than the Coalition’s paid parental

Who: “By cutting corporate taxes we…boost real wage growth,” The Coalition’s ‘Our Plan’. The claim: That wages will increase as businesses pass on the reduction in tax through lower prices, having the effect of increasing real wages. The facts: The claim relies on American studies cited in the Henry tax review. However, the US company

Who: “It [a budget surplus] matters because Australia doesn’t fund itself as a nation. We are running a current account deficit of around $50 billion every year, so we borrow from the rest of the world to fund our lifestyle and that is clearly not sustainable.” Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey The claim: The budget deficit

Who: “I was speaking to a major manufacturer in NSW the other day… [the energy bill for his NSW plant was] 52 million dollars a year. Of that 52 million, 12 million is the carbon tax….the biggest input cost at the moment which is detracting from manufacturing is the carbon tax” Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey.

Who: “[Health concerns are] justified on the scientific evidence. We know from evidence from field studies… that low frequency noise actually causes health problems, physiological damage to people.” Senator Nick Xenophon The claim: There is scientific evidence that wind turbines cause health problems. The facts: In July 2010, the National Health and Medical Research Council

Who: “There’s [an internal] review of the initial [departmental] decision …You can have the [administrative] process we’re talking about or you can have a judicial one, but you don’t have to have both.” Shadow minister for Immigration Scott Morrison, speaking about Coalition immigration policy. The claim: Australia could operate a non-statutory, administrative process without judicial

If tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society it seems that neither of the major parties have high hopes for the communities they say they want to build in northern Australia. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is suggesting that companies based in the Northern Territory should face a reduced company tax

Who: “Children are bombarded with advertising for unhealthy food every time they turn on the TV … Aussie kids are watching 20 hours of TV a week on average and, when they are targeted by strategic advertisements for that long, it has a very big impact.” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. The claim: Australian children watch 20

Who: “The GST cannot be changed without the agreement of all the states and territories.” Tony Abbott “No federal government can change the GST without the consent of each state and territory.” The Australian The claim: The Opposition denies it has any intention of either increasing the GST rate (currently 10 per cent) or extending

The word productivity will be used countless times in this election campaign but the issue of our investment in science will be lucky to get its 24-hour news cycle in the sun. And while business groups are often critical of governments for being focused on the short term, they are not calling for increased funding

Who: “[Australia’s Triple A credit rating] owes everything to the reforms of previous governments… and almost nothing to the spending spree of the current government. Yes, Mr Rudd can stand up and show us his chart and demonstrate that by comparison with some other countries, Australia’s debt and deficit position is not so bad. But

With polls showing we may be on track for another minority government, suddenly we seem surrounded by cries of “not another hung parliament”. And segments of the media and business are again raising exaggerated fears about the “risk and uncertainty” or “instability and short-termism” that will accompany such an outcome. But the fact is that

Who: “The Coalition’s cut to the company tax rate will cost $5 billion over the forward estimates. This reflects the direct costs to revenue from the tax reduction.” Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott and Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey. The claim: The plan is to cut the corporate income tax from 30 to 28.5 per cent beginning

Who: ‘No jobs growth in Labor heartland [western Sydney]’ and ‘the region faces a “jobs deficit” of up to 500,000 places by 2051’ The Daily Telegraph 6 August. The claim: There has been a failure to create jobs, especially private sector jobs, in the western suburbs of Sydney and that the region faces a jobs

Who: “By June 2013, NBN Co is expected to have passed 1.7 million premises.” Government media release. The forecast from NBN Co. Ltd was that by June 2013 a total of 570,000 premises would have active service. The Claim: That by the middle of 2013 the NBN would have been available to 1.7 million households

Who: Welcoming a report into Medicare by a coalition of health and community leaders the Greens have stated that “Our healthcare system is not universal if some people can’t afford to see a doctor or get treatment. The Greens believe that your health shouldn’t be determined by your bank balance and that’s why we remain

Who: “Australian jobs growth is now the slowest in over 15 years” Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. The claim: That the labour market and the economy generally are weaker than under a Coalition government. The Coalition has claimed it will create one million jobs in the next five years and wants to make the case that