Hockey's Tea Party Rant

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered to provide Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with a confidential briefing of the debt position.

The current ceiling of 300 billion will be breached in mid-December.

Joe Hockey said the issue threatens to create a US-style shutdown of federal government services and he was seeking advice on what breaching the current debt ceiling would mean for the government.

He has told parliament the government may have to stop welfare payments and close Medicare if the debt ceiling was breached.

Labor junior treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh was dismissive of the warnings, saying a $400 billion cap would be sufficient to get the government through to after the next election.

''If any party is playing political games here, it is the Liberal Party,'' he told reporters in Canberra.

Former Labor finance minister Penny Wong said the Treasurer's ''reckless and irresponsible'' ultimatum to parliament was a political stunt.
''It really demonstrates he puts politics first and responsible economic management second,'' she told reporters.

Mr Hockey could have a ''responsible increase today'', but Labor wanted him to show Australians what his numbers really were, Senator Wong said.

Greens leader Christine Milne insists her party supported responsible debt measures.
''We will not allow Australia to be put in the position that the Republicans, the Tea Party or Tony Abbott want to put Australia in,'' she told reporters.

The Greens were suspicious of the government's reasoning for a $500 billion cap.
''What we’re saying is, what is your agenda? What do you want to spend the money on?'' she said.

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