ABC 7.30 host Laura Tingle has unleashed on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg over a government $16billion war-chest for spending decisions before the upcoming election.
During a fiery interview on Thursday night, Tingle asked the treasurer about the 'astonishing amount of money', and why taxpayers weren't informed of where the funds were going.
'Why can't you do that? Especially in a time when - in 40 years of reporting - it's only been in the last couple of years that allegations of widespread corruption have actually hung around the federal level of government and this is tainting you as Treasurer, as well as the Government,' she said.
'Is that something that you're prepared to see as a legacy issue for you?'
Mr Frydenberg shut down the question and said the government had worked to leave 'no stone unturned' amid the financial struggles sparked by the Covid pandemic.
'I completely reject the premise of that question. What we are doing is investing in infrastructure projects, what we are doing is investing in skills programs, what we are doing is investing in job creation,' he said.
'And in terms of employment levels, and in terms of GDP output, we have outperformed all major advanced economies in the world.
'I'm not saying to you everything has been perfect. It can't be. There's no rulebook to this but if you look at our performance relative to the rest of the world, Australians have good reason to be proud of what they have achieved together.'
ABC's 7.30 host Laura Tingle has unleashed on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg over the government's $16billion war-chest for spending decisions ahead of the upcoming election
The $16billion was allocated in last month's mid-year budget update to 'decisions taken but not yet announced'.
Tingle had earlier said this 'provoked accusations you're about to engage in the biggest pork-barrelling exercise in history'.
She noted a proportion of this was going towards aviation support and vaccines but asked the Treasurer to be transparent about where the rest of the money was going.
'It is about half/half. About half of the $16billion is for decisions taken and announced but
