Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Amanda Vanstone calls it a vision for the future.
We call it a vision of hell.
The Commission of Audit report is the work of fat cats in lofty places far removed from the struggles and worries of ordinary Australians.
When it landed in our streets and backyards on Thursday, it exploded like a stink bomb.
Regardless of how much or little of this nonsense becomes reality, the stench of this report will taint the Abbott government for the rest of its term.
Under the recommendations, nearly everyone suffers – everyone, that is, except the fat cats who crafted it and their cronies.
Make no mistake: despite all the talk of sharing the pain, this report does almost nothing to extract a larger share from those most able to pay it.
The fat cats would be happy to slash the minimum wage. They would be happy to make ordinary Aussies work longer, pay more, get less.
But fix the superannuation rort that gives the wealthy a $30 billion tax break every year?
Not on your life.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris calls the report “one of the biggest frauds ever unleashed on the people of Australia’’.
It would, he says, signal farewell to the core Australian concept of a fair go.
We couldn’t agree more.