Note last paragraph below :THE Coalition has released an interim...

Note last paragraph below :

THE Coalition has released an interim list of $31.6 billion in budget savings but has refused to release the independent findings to back its estimates, relying instead on three advisers to claim its figures are robust.

The savings plan exempts health and education from changes in a bid to puncture Kevin Rudd's warnings about the scale of the Coalition savings, countering the Prime Minister's repeated claim that Tony Abbott plans $70bn in cuts.

But the Coalition did not produce any estimates of the spending measures it would take to the election, leaving a major part of its budget plan to be revealed next week, despite promising that voters would see the details “in good time” before the election.

The cost estimates, contained in a seven-page press release, confirmed the $1.1bn gain to the budget bottom line over the next four years from Mr Abbott's paid parental leave policy, as revealed in The Australian today.

The figures highlight the modest gain to business from the Coalition's $5bn cut in the company tax rate over the period, which benefits about 750,000 companies but is offset by about $4.4bn in revenue from an equivalent levy on the biggest 3200 companies.

One of the biggest savings, worth $5.1bn over four years, comes from discontinuing business compensation measures linked to the carbon tax, which is to be scrapped if the Coalition wins the election and gets its changes through the Senate.

The list of savings also confirms the Coalition plan to cut car industry assistance by $500 million, save $1.5bn by scrapping the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and renewable energy schemes and recoup $900m by discontinuing a “loss carry-back” tax break for businesses