I'm on holidays in Robe on the Limestone Coast and it is difficult to obtain internet access. I notice that the OECD has prescribed an aggressive and contentious reform agenda for Australia that looks to be very neo-liberal in its orientation at a time when Australian manufacturing faces stagnation in output and job losses and the Reserve Bank has raised the benchmark interest rate by a a quarter of a per cent to its highest level in more than five years. This rise in interest rates is the second in three months and reflects the surge in commodity prices that has delivered a major income boost to the nation.

The proposed OECD reforms include extending the GST to fresh food, indexing personal income tax rates, phasing out industrial awards, extending welfare to work changes to all people on government handouts, giving states their own income taxes and completing outstanding national competition policy changes