The Commission of Audit report is a declaration of open class war by the corporate ruling class against Australia's working people and the poor.
Released symbolically on May 1, the international workers' day, it is a clear challenge to the labour movement and social organisations.
If its 86 recommendations are implemented, it would be a wholesale destruction of the welfare state, hard fought for over a century or more by working people, and a huge victory for big business in shifting wealth from the poor to the rich.
It would also result in the almost total sell-off of remaining public assets to the multinational corporations, and a drastic change in the relationship of class forces in Australia.
Although federal treasurer Joe Hockey has been quick to say the recommendations are from "a report, not the budget", there is no doubt the commission report is intended to soften up the public for the worst horror budget in decades, due on May 13.
It also represents a medium-term log of claims by big business and its Coalition political agents for the economic future of the country.
The brutality of the report is no surprise. The Commission of Audit was headed by the former president of the Business Council of Australia, Tony Shepherd, and other conservative figures. It essentially entails an outsourcing to the corporate sector of the Abbott government's future planning strategy.
Despite attempts in the mainstream media to downplay the likelihood of some of the worst elements of the report being included in the upcoming budget, we should be in no doubt that this plan represents the true ambitions of the Coalition regime.
Economics commentator Ross Gittins said in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 2: "Not surprisingly, the commission found ways to solve our budget problem at the expense of almost everyone bar the top '1 per cent' whose interests the council represents."
The severity of many of the recommendations is intended to provide cover for Tony Abbott’s government to bring in less obviously draconian, but nevertheless extremely harsh, measures in the upcoming budget.
For example, the commission's proposed $15 Medicare co-payment for GP consultations "is unlikely to go ahead, but it provides political cover for the almost certain $6 co-payment," the SMH said.
The commission's recommendation for a $5 co-payment for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines is also likely to be in the budget mix.
Proposals to force university students to pay more for their studies — and to begin paying back earlier and at a lower threshold — while cutting federal funding to higher education, are likely to be adopted by Hockey in the budget. These policies would go hand-in-hand with a huge privatisation of higher education over the medium term.
"A requirement for unemployed 22-30 year olds (who do not have dependants or an exemption) to move to high employment areas after one year on the dole could also get the nod," the Herald reported. This policy would disrupt the lives of thousands of young people and is a form of forced labour.
The commission's proposed changes to the age pension system are extremely politically dangerous for the Coalition. The suggested increase in the pension age to 70, confirmed by Hockey, and the even more radical plan to include the family home under the pension asset test, would effectively demolish the current age pension scheme — and destroy the whole idea of a secure, universal retirement payment for older people.
The commission proposes an all-out assault on the federal public service, with a further 15,000 jobs to be cut. The report recommends the virtual abolition of federal education and health departments, with all responsibilities in these areas to be devolved to the states — returning to a pre-1970s model, resulting in greater disparities and inequities in different regions of the country.
As Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood told ABC Radio National on May 2: "The public service has already shrunk overall ... Who will do these jobs? People are scared for their livelihoods, especially in regional areas, where there are not many other jobs in town."
The report confirms plans for the privatisation of most remaining federal public assets, including Australia Post, Snowy Hydro, Defence Housing, the Australian Rail Track Corporation, NBN Co and Australian Hearing Services. Some are proposed for sale in the next few years and others over the longer term.
These recommendations are for a blatant robbery of public property by the thieves who stand to gain most: big business. They reveal just how fundamentally corrupt this Commission of Audit process really is — the vampires taking over management of the blood bank.
This whole charade is being sold on the basis of a so-called "budget emergency". This is nothing but a lie by the Abbott government and its backers to justify these disastrous cuts to the wider community.
Australia's debt to GDP ratio is about 14% and is predicted to rise to 17% by 2024. This compares with an average OECD debt to GDP ratio of 73%.
Socialist Alliance national co-convener Susan Price said on May 2: "This Commission of Audit report has thrown down the gauntlet to the labour movement and the broader social organisations in Australia. It is a declaration of open class war on the working class and the disadvantaged sections of our society.
"It is a threat to destroy the foundations of the welfare state and the social gains made through decades of struggle by trade unions and social movements. We must now increase our organisation to fight back against this escalating ruling-class offensive.
"March in May rallies are a step in the right direction, but we urgently need more action by the unions and social organisations to confront this challenge. Planning needs to begin immediately to build the broadest possible movement to fight back against this neoliberal attack."