Institute of Liberal Party policy? What the IPA will get from Abbott

https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/09/06/institute-of-liberal-party-policy-what-the-ipa-will-get-from-abbott/

The influence Institute of Public Affairs released a list of policy demands last year. Crikey forensically works through them to see which ones Tony Abbott has adopted.

Tony Abbott likes to think of the shadowy Institute of Public Affairs as divine inspiration, rhapsodising in a speech to its mogul-stacked 70th anniversary dinner in Melbourne this year that its diktats are created in God’s image. But just how many of the think tank’s radical ideas will he adopt when, as expected, the Liberals form government on Sunday?

In a Sunday Age piece a few weeks back, John Howard belled the cat: the IPA is a Trojan Horse for scorched earth neoliberals trying to “condition the public attitude on these [policy] matters”, in other words, manufacture consent.

Luckily, the policy menu has already been written. Last August, in a brazen display of chutzpah, the IPA released a list of 75 thought bubbles that it wants implemented, and then, chuffed by the reaction, added a further 25 a few months later.

The links between the IPA and the Liberal Party are strong and enduring: IPA free trade unit manager Tim Wilson is a long-term party member and officer bearer, executive director John Roskam ran for Senate preselection twice and the IPA itself helped form the Liberal Party in the 1940s. Wilson and Roskam looked buoyant chatting casually over a coffee at Dilkstein’s Corner bar in Melbourne’s CBD this week, no doubt crossing their fingers for a massive Coalition win.

And can the IPA get in the incoming government’s ear between now and a double dissolution to press its policy points home?

While Abbott has promised “no surprises” in government, many of the ideas could gain momentum indirectly through “independent” review bodies set up by the Liberals when they take office. A commission of audit will likely recommend a tranche of spending cuts and sell-offs, a taxation white paper will examine the GST and the Productivity Commission will take care of industrial relations reform that should be right up the IPA’s alley.

Still, based on a Crikey analysis of ideas adopted, the IPA might have to ratchet up its legendary lobbying skills: out of the 75 ideas surveyed, we found that 9-12% of the wish list had been promised, 22-29% had been partially promised or mooted, while 44-59% were unlikely or unfeasible. In some cases, the Coalition’s policy momentum was travelling in another direction entirely. Here’s the first 75 — the 25 more recent brainwaves will be assessed in the likely event of a Coalition victory. Send your comments and corrections to boss@crikey.com.au and we’ll keep this list updated …

NOW READ THE SHOCKING LIST HERE and be prepared to vomit....

https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/09/06/institute-of-liberal-party-policy-what-the-ipa-will-get-from-abbott/