Auditing the audit

The Commission was hasty in defending itself. It does not want to upset markets at all, and maybe it has done that in the 1200 pages. I see two glaring issues for government to boost efficiency and productivity: women and the homeless.

Australian women are not in a good state. With a widening gender pay gap there is no response that notes that says that is a good thing. The only policy that was considered by the Commission was the troubled paid-parental leave scheme. This is a tax that seems to only have critics.

I have written previously on the opportunity that comes with the rise of women, the report should have addressed this more. Who would not want a more productive public service and economy? We know that gender diversity increases those.

There are 106,000 people who are homeless around our nation. Imagine if they were in work and contributing to the economy. All of my interactions with the homeless are with people who are wanting to work and contribute but there are structural limitations that sometimes only government can fix.

Homelessness is not the responsibility of but one government or organisation, that demeanour fails to recognise the complexity of homelessness in Australia. The Federal Government does have a role to play especially when it comes to the provision of land and in training.

The Commission has missed what could have been a monumental statement on how small-governments could interact with the economy. What we have is a document that outlines where government should keep itself out of.

Hockey now has direction on where he should focus his philosophy. Some will criticise that and what fruits it bears, but time will tell.

Rarely are these opportunities gifted to us. Whether you believe that changes need to be made or not, this is a great moment to consider what Australia could be.

The Treasurer is right that we should all do the heavy lifting. What we require from him is guide us to a more prosperous and effective nation, that does not mean cleansing government of all that liberals and Liberals do not like.

Whatever Hockey does now is his responsibility and the duty of parliament to maintain that Australia remains the lucky country.