MPs operate on your hip pocket nerve

In this passion-free election campaign, both major parties are trying to find – and revive – voters’ hip pocket nerves.

This strategy is firmly based on the – probably false – premise that the the time has now come to keep a very tight rein on Federal spending.

(The International Monetary Fund, after all, is saying that the biggest danger the world now faces, in the wake of the global economic crisis, is premature withdrawal of the stimulus measures  that governments around the world introduced to offset that collapse.  Of course, they are juar a bunch of foreigners, anyway, so what would they know?).

Be that as it may, both major parties are taking great care, this time, to say exactly where the money, for their relatively modest promises, will be coming from.

So what are the latest developments, in this – so far – bloodless battle?

Tony Abbott is promising what he calls “real action” on child care, saying the Coalition will commit an extra $89 million for measures that will make this amenity “more affordable.”

He said this would be bolstered by the re-introduction of indexation of the child care rebate, to help eligible families meet their child care costs.

The money would be paid weekly to child care providers, Mr Abbott said .

Meanwhile, the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, issued a paper putting the total cost of Labor’s new policies, for the August 21 election at $747 million.

If that 747 was an aircraft, you might think it was too heavy to fly, at that weight.

But Mr Swan’s statement did not stop there.

He said the offsets, announced against this policies, now add up to a truly impressive $797 million.

So the net effect, according to Mr Swan, would be a $50 million positive effect on the budget’s bottom line.

The Treasurer also urged Mr Abbott to submit his campaign promises to the Federal Treasury, for expert costing.

Labor’s – already costed – promises of course include its commitment to cash for clunkers.  That is a $2,000 cheque, for every owner of a pre 1995 car, who replaces it with a newer, more fuel efficient vehicle, after January 1 next year.

So hold your old one together, with band-aids if necessary, until then.

Meanwhile, campaigning in Launceston, Julia Gillard promised that, if re-elected, the  Government would spend $96 million from next year to train 270 doctors and 2,000 nurses over the next 10 years.

She said the funding had already been allocated in the budget.

“This is an important step forward for our emergency departments right around the country – more doctors, more nurses, trained with the skills they need to work in emergency departments,” Ms Gillard said.