Dejavu - Howard gov Commission of Audit 1996

I don't remember a hell of a lot about the beginning of the Howard gov other than how pissed off I was that that sniveling lying bloody gnome Howard had won it. I do recall refusing to watch any news for some time after that election. Meanwhile the Howard gov was setting about it's course of manipulation and deception that would see it stay in office for 11 years (until the conquering hero Rudd came along). Eleven long years....

What I didn't pick up on was the Howard Gov's own Commission of Audit at the time, released in 1996 to exactly the same hoopla and "end of entitlement" mentality that we're seeing today from sloppy Joe. In fact some of the wording is identical. They talk about "unsustainable" and the like. 

Unfortunately, even though Abbott appears to be trying to reanimate the Howard gov in his own image, voters don't appear to be quite as amenable to Lieberal bullshit this time. In 1996 the Australian economy was having a struggle and voters accepted a bit of reasonable sort of reform as being necessary. This time of course the economy is in good shape, as the majority of indicators illustrate. To be crying "budget emergency" in such an environment is just too much like the Lieberals crying wolf again.

This report shows footage from 1996 when the Howard gov's Commission of Audit was released. The similarities to today are striking: