Body Without Organs

Commission Of Cu(n)ts

In its own way, the Tony Abbott government has proven to be extraordinarily surprising. It never ceases to amaze us as to just how low it would stoop, just how mean it will be, how misplaced their sense of balance might reside ,and just how good they think the awful deeds they do look to themselves. It is a bit like the fictional Oz, wherein the people in charge of the body corporate are without brain or heart.

Given that they are bereft of coming up with actual ideas as to how to reform the tax system in this country, and by extension reform this economy, they have - in true Tory style - outsourced the thinking to a bunch of ideological wonks to come up with suggestions. Of course, they would choose a panel loaded with people you would describe as ideologically motivated in the way that you might describe Margaret Thatcher was ideologically motivated.

If the worst member on the list is Amanda Vanstone (she of the sandwich-and-milkshake back in the Howard ministry days and who had only 1 year experience as a minister of anything to do with economic policy), the rest of the members of this Commission of Audit delivering up their suggestions seem to be not much less Tory. The only people who can imagine impartiality or fairness from these people are the people set to benefit from their suggestions and that would be big business.

Since their report was released at 2pm today, the headlines have gone crazy with the details of their recommendation.

Cut minimum wage by 133.30 a week.

Scrap Family Tax Benefit B and 35 Agencies.

Call to increase university fees.

More Health shake-up.

This doesn't include the bit where they're going to cut pensions and recommendation to not pay Cadbury what Tony Abbott said he would fund Cadbury. You can just feel all those journos collectively drawing a breath and diving into this sewer channel of a document.

Needless to say the recommendations from this Commission pretty much tear up the social contract in Australia. John Hewson's Fightback didn't go this far into the land of user-pay society and entrenching wealth and privilege. It's totally bizarre as to just what kind of future these people are envisaging if education is priced out of the middle class, minimum wages are cut, there are wholesale cuts to welfare and cutting access to healthcare. One imagines this is the Tea Party kind of vision Tony Abbott has brought back from 'Murica' and encouraged amongst his brethren, but this is nothing short of the kind of class warfare they fear.

Not to mention the fact that if our society becomes totally user-pay as is the dream of these fascists, they'll be turning Australia further into a two-tiered economy where the privileged make mag-bucks while the majority will be doing menial jobs or be unemployed. it looks like an out and out attempt to entrench privilege for the privileged and destroy social mobility at all costs - and by costs we mean social and demographic. Australia's not ever likely to be the kind of country that goes all revolutionary but really, this Commission of Audit report is a declaration of war against the 99% from the 1%.

While I'm at it, I should relay to you this link from Pleiades about privilege.

Anyway. Pleiades was telling me today that there's serious consternation amongst the Liberal and National Party about the mental health of the Prime Minister. The indication I got was that the party is surprised Tony Abbott is pushing ahead with a very hairy ideological agenda that could (and would) seriously damage their chances for re-election. That Tony Abbott is either seriously deluded about the extent of the validation and the meaning in his election victory and is going full on, or he is simply mad.

I guess we'll see just how much electorate damage this report does to their credibility.