On 22 January, Gina Rinehart stated: “If we are sensible, we should set up a DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] immediately, reduce government waste, government tape and regulations.”
Mere days later, on 25 January, Peter Dutton appointed Jacinta Nampijinpa Value because the shadow minister for presidency effectivity (SMOGE?), describing her new job as to chop “wasteful spending”.
Correlation isn’t causation, however the political and narrative threads connecting Dutton’s Coalition opposition to Donald Trump’s American presidency and his mega-billionaire offsider Elon Musk develop extra quite a few by the day.
Main as much as a cost-of-living election, the change is sensible; after Value serving to defeat Labor’s referendum for an Indigenous voice, the brand new position places a robust media performer into the highlight.
The hyperlinks solely grew when Dutton pointed a finger at, as his first instance of “wasteful spending that is out of control”, the “36,000 additional Canberra public servants employed under this government”.
The general public service workforce, and plans to “restructure federal agencies”, are a key a part of DOGE’s remit.
Dutton on Sunday stated the proposed authorities effectivity position was to “identify where taxpayers’ money is being wasted”, however he didn’t deny the title had been impressed by Musk and Trump.
Regardless of appointing a shadow minister for presidency effectivity, Dutton additionally saved Adelaide Liberal MP James Stevens in his position as shadow assistant minister for presidency waste discount.
It was not instantly clear what the excellence between the 2 roles can be, or why a task about effectivity had two folks chargeable for it, past calling to thoughts the on-line jokes a few comparable state of affairs the place Musk and one-time presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had been initially slated to share the management of the initiative.
Since Trump’s November election win, many conservative politicians and commentators have urged Dutton to extra carefully observe the technique of the US president within the coming Australian ballot.
Many imagine Trump’s presidency will usher in a brand new period of conservative authorities throughout the western world, catalysing change on points like immigration, range and inclusion, and local weather.
Mining billionaire Rinehart – Australia’s richest particular person – held a gathering with Musk the morning after Trump’s election win. She has made a number of speeches and public feedback calling for Australia to undertake Trump-style insurance policies to chop pink tape.
“Donald Trump has led an important movement with his policies – a movement that is growing and growing,” she advised The Australian newspaper final week. “I hope our country is not left behind.”
A number of Coalition MPs have urged Dutton to observe Trump in looking for to withdraw from the Paris local weather settlement, although the Liberal chief says he received’t.
However in an eerie echo of Trump’s plans to radically reduce authorities worker numbers, Dutton has not too long ago stepped up his criticism of the expansion within the variety of public servants, in addition to criticising “woke” progressive causes.
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By no means thoughts {that a} huge variety of these new public servants had been employed for jobs together with offering companies, answering telephones or processing claims for the NDIS, veterans companies or Centrelink; or that they got here in to do jobs beforehand outsourced to higher-paid, outdoors consultants by former governments.
A day after Value’s SMOGE position was introduced, the deputy opposition chief, Sussan Ley, invoked Musk’s SpaceX, evaluating the arrival of the First Fleet to the tech billionaire’s quest to succeed in Mars.
It appears solely a matter of time earlier than Musk – who has repeatedly commented on elections all over the world, making beneficial remarks about conservative politicians to 214 million followers on his social media platform X – seems towards Australian politics once more.
Musk has beforehand strongly criticised the Albanese Labor authorities as “fascists” for its efforts to control large tech firms and management on-line misinformation. Albanese hit again on the “arrogant billionaire”, and not too long ago raised Australia’s international interference legal guidelines when requested about Musk’s potential impact on the approaching election.
It’s arduous to quantify what impact Musk’s idle tweeting may have on our election, or what number of of his 214 million followers are Australian voters.
However Musk enjoys two issues that might spell turbulence for a Labor occasion looking for re-election: he has (at the very least for now) the ear of the president of the US, who has himself been no stranger to publicly making life troublesome for Australian prime ministers; and Musk has a world profile of his personal.
On Sunday, Musk beamed in to a marketing campaign occasion for Germany’s far-right Different für Deutschland (AfD) occasion, telling supporters: “It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”
It’s not troublesome to think about how an identical message would rev up some Australian voters, or to think about Musk’s willingness to weigh in. In latest instances he has repeatedly commented on British, Brazilian, Argentinian, South African, Norwegian and German politics typically in favour of right-wing politicians and insurance policies on immigration, crime, authorities spending and social points like range, gender and free speech.
Albanese has dismissed Musk’s risk to his agenda and maintains Australia will proceed its alliance with the US beneath Trump’s presidency. However getting drawn again into an unpleasant world stoush with the world’s richest man, if his eye is drawn again to the politics of Canberra, wouldn’t be a prospect Labor would relish.
