The Federal Government has ruled out cutting Defence funding and is delaying making a decision on other recommended budget savings.
Incoming government briefs prepared by the Department of Finance warned that growing pressures on the long-term budget would require structural changes, saying that Labor’s deal with the Independents indicated it should find another $2.4 billion in savings over the next four years.
It said further savings could be found in Defence — in addition to the $2 billion a year previously announced — and also noted that about $1.7 billion a year was being spent on overseas operations, particularly Afghanistan, but did not factor this into future years’ budgets.
Treasurer Wayne Swan has since ruled out cutting Defence funding to help get the budget into surplus.
“We’ve locked in a long-term funding profile for our defence forces.
“Our troops will get all the support that they need on the ground in Afghanistan,” he said.