PM defends Treasury's oppn costings - Sky News Australia

Prime Minister Julia Gillard insists the public has the right to know the policies of every political party and what they would cost to implement.

Ms Gillard was responding to criticism the government used a Treasury analysis of coalition tax policies for political advantage.

A former treasury secretary, Ted Evans, has told The Australian he cannot remember another time when analysis from the department has been misused in such a way.

The analysis showed three opposition tax policies would cost businesses $4.57 billion in the first full year of a coalition government and $17.2 billion over four years.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has admitted his office commissioned the costings.

Ms Gillard said it was 'very common' for Treasury to cost policies and denied such action politicised the department.

'The costing of policies by Treasury officials of all sides of politics is routine,' she told ABC radio on Wednesday.

Asked if Mr Swan's decision to leak the analysis compromised Treasury, she said she had a 'different view'.

The public should know the coalition was trying to hide its plans to cut services to Australian families in order to fill a budget black hole, she said.

'I actually think the Australian people are entitled to know what the policies of every political party (are) and what they would cost.'

Mr Swan dismissed suggestions that releasing the costings had tainted Treasury.

'No, not at all,' he told Sky News in Washington.

Treasury provided the government with numbers from time to time on 'many, many matters', he said.

He insisted the same thing happened under his predecessor Peter Costello when the coalition was in government.

'It's happening now, there is nothing wrong with that at all.'

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said Labor was spending more time playing politics and no time dealing with the big policy issues that actually had an impact on the national interest.

'The government has such a poor economic reputation that it has to rely on Treasury as a shield,' he told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Swan said if the opposition had a problem with the information provided by Treasury, it should have its policies properly costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Mr Hockey indicated the coalition would use the office to cost its policies, but said the opposition was waiting for legislation to clear parliament.

Mr Hockey said the Parliamentary Budget Office had not been ready to accept coalition submissions.

'It cannot guarantee that the information will not be passed on to other departments,' he said.

He said he spoken with Mr Costello on Tuesday night and the former treasurer had told him he could not remember a single occasion when a Treasury minute had been deliberately released to the media to score political points.