From DOGE to SMOGE, Peter Dutton’s Coalition is an eerie echo of Trump (and Musk’s) America
From DOGE to SMOGE, Peter Dutton’s Coalition is an eerie echo of Trump (and Musk’s) America
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Dutton’s cabinet reshuffle added the shadow minister of government efficiency role to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s position – but it sounds a bit familiar. On 22 January, Gina Rinehart said: “If we are sensible, we should set up a DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] immediately, reduce government waste, government tape and regulations.”.
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Mere days later, on 25 January, Peter Dutton appointed Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as the shadow minister for government efficiency (SMOGE?), describing her new job as to cut “wasteful spending”. Correlation isn’t causation, but the political and narrative threads connecting Dutton’s Coalition opposition to Donald Trump’s American presidency and his mega-billionaire offsider Elon Musk grow more numerous by the day.
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Leading up to a cost-of-living election, the change makes sense; after Price helping defeat Labor’s referendum for an Indigenous voice, the new role puts a strong media performer into the spotlight. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email.
The links only grew when Dutton pointed a finger at, as his first example of “wasteful spending that is out of control”, the “36,000 additional Canberra public servants employed under this government”. The public service workforce, and plans to “restructure federal agencies”, are a key part of DOGE’s remit.
