Money for nothing
An entitled political class has forgotten that wealth must be created before it can be redistributed
Three weeks ago, Jim Chalmers was putting the final touches on what he evidently believed was a rather good Budget.
His post-Budget Press Club remarks began with a litany of gratitude reminiscent of the Oscars. Family, office staff, and Treasury officials thanked by name, including Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson, a public servant with a bigger salary than the Prime Minister.
Last week, Wilkinson returned the favour by lavishing praise on the fiscal brilliance and reforming flair in Chalmers’ Budget.
People were “understandably” sensitive about paying more tax. “But revenue needs to be raised from somewhere,” she said.
Wilkinson’s insensitive remark invites comparisons with “Let them eat cake”, the phrase attributed to Marie Antoinette that serves as shorthand for an elite that completely misunderstands the practical realities facing ordinary people.
Versailles in the 18th century had more than a passing resemblance to contemporary Canberra, albeit with better furniture: a self-contained world of courtiers, officials and insiders, largely insulated from the lives of the people.
Wilkinson, like Chalmers, has risen to the top of their respective trees without ever staring at a cashflow spreadsheet and worrying how they’re going to settle payroll in a month, cover the cost of rising inputs, or find a lazy $20,000 to settle a spurious, unfair dismissal claim by a disgruntled former employee.
Revenue needs to come from somewhere if Wilkinson and her colleagues are to be spared the indignity of travelling in economy class, accept a cut in their
