Lying Liberals caught out
Lib policy costings exposed by ruling Peter Martin
December 1, 2011.
THE federal Coalition's economic credibility has been dealt a blow after a tribunal found that two accountants who costed its 2010 election policies had breached professional standards.
The ruling is an embarrassment to shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, who wrongly insisted during the campaign that the accountants' policy costings had been audited.
Geoffrey Phillip Kid and Cyrus Patell, of the Perth office of accountants WHK Horwath, produced a one-page report for the Coalition on its policies two days before the election.
Mr Hockey said at the time that the pair had certified "in law that our numbers are accurate''.
"If the fifth-biggest accounting firm in Australia signs off on our numbers it is a brave person to start saying there are accounting tricks," Mr Hockey told ABC radio in November 2010. "I tell you it is audited. This is an audited statement.''
Fellow Coalition frontbencher Andrew Robb also strongly vouched for the costings, saying they were "as good as you could get anywhere in the country, including in Treasury''.
In fact, the document was the result of a carefully worded agreement between the accountants and the Coalition to produce work primarily ''not of an audit nature''Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/lib-policy-costings-exposed-by-ruling-20111130-1o773.html#ixzz1fFo3d9au
