Senator Andrew Bartlett
Monday, May 09, 2005
 
Budget Initiative – Goodbye to the Bludger, Hello to the Shirker?
On Sunday, I managed to get in a game of cricket. My team had won their first four games of the competition without me playing, and I was worried my presence might coincide with an end to their winning streak. However, we had a comprehensive win of around 150 runs, no doubt due to my crucial knock of 3 not out at the end of our innings.

On Monday it was back down to Canberra for the resumption of Parliament and the bringing down of the Budget. I slept all the way down in the plane, which was either a sign I didn't want to come here or a consequence of getting out of bed at 4.30am to catch it.

All of the usual pre-Budget spin, leaks, kite flying and softening up has now occurred, complete with the now-familiar leadership speculation and the "is this Costello's last Budget?" questions.

The ritual will be completed tomorrow night with the Treasurer tabling volumes of Budget documents and then giving a 3o minute speech which is meant to summarise these documents but will basically just be a string of catchphrases, selective truths and gratuitous praise for himself and the Government. Over the following hour or so, everyone else from opposition politicians to lobby groups and commentators will try to get a line or two of reaction into the morning media coverage.

Wednesday will see assessments of how better or worse off individuals are with the latest tax cuts and welfare changes. This year most of that assessment will be conducted through a filter of whether it is good or bad for Peter Costello's leadership chances.

In amongst all of this sound and fury, there are a range of quite detailed measures that will affect the lives of most Australians, sometimes in highly significant ways. It often takes quite a while for the real details to emerge of what those impacts might be.

For me, this Budget must be the last real chance for the Government to show they are serious about welfare reform. As usual, the signals have been mixed. This piece from The Age summarises it all quite well. The Treasurer was quoted again today as saying the Budget would help get people get off welfare and back into work. This aim is something that virtually no Australian has a problem with. The trouble is that this Government's record shows much more of an emphasis on 'getting people off welfare' without worrying so much about first making sure those same people are getting 'back into work.'

The trouble is that so much of the success or otherwise of this issue is based on who wins the rhetorical battle, rather than what actually happens to people. A new label in this battle seems to be the term "shirker". "Dole bludger" is probably a bit too stale and old fashioned, and besides we've had Work for the Dole for some years now (brought in with support of the ALP). Whilst plenty of assessments have shown Work for the Dole has been of limited value in helping people into work – certainly far less than the programs it replaced – there is no doubt it has been successful with its main aim, which was to politically advantage the Government by reinforcing the stereotype of the dole bludger so the Government could show it was being tough on them.

However, now that the target is widening to the disabled and sole parents, the Government clearly feels a new and more broadly encompassing label is needed. To that end, it seems "the Shirker" is being called up for action. Let's face it, the Bludger was always going to get a bit fat and go to seed. There are so many more things that can fit beneath the umbrella of the modern-day shirker. It's the new, all-purpose updated bludger. A far more inclusive approach that can also demonise the sole parent, shirking their responsibility to their child, or the person with mental illness, shirking their responsibility to 'pull themselves together' and stop their malingering. We can all feel comfortable that – at least when it comes to targeting sections of the community for political gain and finding new ways to make life harder for the less well off while still insisting they're helping – this is a Government that's still full of fresh ideas.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, May 09, 2005 Permalink
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