Everyone was putting on their best shocked and horribly surprised faces on Monday morning with news that the first budget from a recently-elected conservative government will include significant public sector job cuts.
The impending cull of over 10 percent more public sector workers than the previous government had planned to anyway is tipped to save $500 million and abolish or amalgamate numerous beloved national institutions you have never dealt with or knew existed.
Really, we should have been preparing for life after the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation since September.
Joining A-WDC on the chopping block are the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, COAG Reform Council, the National Water Commission and the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Business Policy Advisory Group. Meanwhile, the alphabet soup of bureaucratic acronyms will be thinned out through making various agencies share their toys and play nice with each other.
With all the abolishing, amalgamating and simply not doing certain things anymore because it won’t piss off anyone who matters, it will be easy to miss the hiring amongst the firing. It just won’t be the government doing it.
The private sector can be trusted to pick up the slack in pursuit of lucrative markets such as indigenous health in remote areas, arts television programming and employment services for professionals with mental illness – oh what’s that? We don’t do that last one anyway?
Okay, never mind – the invisible hand shall provide.
Finance minister Mathias Cormann has rejected suggestions that the cuts are ideologically motivated.
This is of course complete conkers. The cuts are as ideologically driven as the agencies they are getting rid of. That’s the point.
Ever seen a documentary about Lions where the new alpha male kills off the cubs of the previous leader of the pride?
This is the same thing but with ring binders.
public sector are so gonna do it tough now – unfair
Thanks RW
Aren’t we all talking about all those pesky taxes and the oh so downright burden we lay on our 180k earners, who will stop spending, ruining the economy by doing that?
The snow job that has taking the media by storm and kept the water cooler conversation going is incredible. To see the opposition jump up and down, screaming broken promises and no new taxes is even more disturbing.
What this budget is really all about is the axing of public service jobs and institutions that got in the way of private industry making money. Tweak that with a belt tightening message, upset the punters and conceal the real crime perpetrated.
Yep, it’s perfectly clear now, we do live in an economy, social justice and a better way of life can take a hike.
Have a cigar mate. Even better, become a consultant and you can get those cigars for free.