Announcing the long-awaited accounting on Thursday, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor slammed Labor’s handling of the economy over the past three years and warned Australia was heading toward “$1.2 trillion of debt”.

“In contrast … what we’ve announced today is a $14bn bottom-line budget improvement over the forward estimates,” Mr Taylor told reporters in Sydney.

“But on top of that, we’ve laid out a $40bn improvement in the debt position over that same time period.”

He promised “the biggest improvement in the budget position” while spruiking the Coalition’s flagship immediate cost-of-living relief measures – cutting the fuel excise by 25 cents a litre for 12 months and a $1200 “a tax cut for first home buyers”.

As for how the Coalition would achieve its budget goals, finance spokeswoman Jane Hume was clear.

“First and foremost, we will reduce government spending as a share of the economy,” Senator Hume told the same press conference.

“We will cut waste, control expenditure growth and ensure that every dollar that is spent by government is focused on delivering essential services and strengthening our nation, not growing bureaucracy.”

She highlighted the opposition’s flagship cost-savings plan to “sensibly reduce the size of the (Australian Public Service) by 41,000 over a period of five years”, insisting it would do so “through a hiring freeze and through natural attrition … while protecting the services delivery and national security positions”.

Though, experts have said the move would be impossible without cutting essential services.

More to come