My fellow smart Australians,

We are done being treated like a bottomless ATM. We are done watching Canberra play Santa with other people’s money, then acting shocked when housing, hospitals and basic infrastructure buckle under the load. We are done with press conferences instead of performance, slogans instead of solutions and “big announcements” that leave ordinary families poorer and the country weaker.

So here it is, the hard-hitting, no-nonsense wish list Australia should demand from the Federal Government in 2026 and beyond.

Not suggestions. Standards.

1) End centre-based childcare subsidies, if you have kids you pay

Let’s be blunt. If you choose to have children and you choose paid care at an early learning centre, you pay for it. Not the taxpayer.

The Child Care Subsidy is enormous. The Auditor-General notes it cost the Australian Government $13.6 billion in 2023–24 and also estimated $484.1 million was lost to incorrect payments including fraud and non-compliance. Australian National Audit Office

That is not compassionate governance, that is a giant pipeline of money begging to be gamed.

If government insists on any support, fine, tightly target it to genuine hardship, child safety cases and emergency situations. But the default must be personal responsibility, not taxpayer-funded lifestyle management.

2) Ban “bread and circuses” spending, no more billion-dollar vanity projects

No more “we hosted a thing” economics.

If a project needs taxpayer life support to exist, it is not a national priority, it’s a political hobby. If the best case is “spend $1B to maybe get $250M back”, then it is not an investment, it’s an expensive selfie.

New rule: independent cost-benefit analysis or no cheque. And not the kind of analysis where the government hires a consultant to agree with the government. Real scrutiny, real assumptions and real consequences when the numbers stink.

If a business loses 75% of revenue that is a loss. If Canberra does it, that is in Canberra maths, a stimulus, the only kind where losing money is somehow a win.

3) Cut the federal public service by 50%, and stop pretending it’s impossible

A lean government can be competent. A bloated one can only be busy.

Half the federal bureaucracy is duplication, compliance theatre, interdepartmental paper-shuffling and “stakeholder engagement” that looks suspiciously like political insulation.

So do it. Cut it by 50%. Merge agencies. Delete whole programmes, not just rename them. Stop outsourcing core capability to consultants on eye-watering day rates. Make public servants serve the public again, not the other way around.

4) Pause immigration until infrastructure catches up, and prove it with numbers

This is where Australians are being gaslit. We are told migration is “essential”, then we are told housing, hospitals and transport collapsing is “complex”.

It’s not complex. It’s arithmetic.

ABS data shows net overseas migration of 446,000 in 2023–24 Australian Bureau of Statistics and 306,000 in 2024–25Australian Bureau of Statistics. Even the lower figure is still a huge annual intake for a country already short on homes and services.

Now do the housing maths. ABS reports average household size was 2.5 people (June 2025). Australian Bureau of Statistics

So if you add 500,000 people, you are looking at roughly 200,000 dwellings worth of demand (500,000 ÷ 2.5). Even at 306,000, you’re still talking around 120,000 dwellings worth of demand, before you even touch the existing shortage.

New rule: No growth policy without a capacity plan.
Tie intake to measured housing completions and enabling infrastructure. If the country cannot build and staff it, then the country cannot absorb it. Full stop.

5) Put Australian housing first, and stop rewarding failure

Housing is not a “market outcome” when government has its hands on the throttle and the brake at the same time.

Federal priorities should be brutally simple:

• stop driving demand with mass intake when supply is constrained
• strip back federal red tape that slows building
• punish state and local governments that block supply for political reasons
• reward approvals and delivery, not announcements

We need homes built faster, approvals faster and infrastructure delivered like adults are running the show.

6) Defund the ABC, make it subscription

If the ABC is valuable, it will survive like every other media outfit has to, by earning loyalty.

The ABC’s Portfolio Budget Statements show Revenue from Government of $1.196 billion (2024–25 estimated actual) and $1.229 billion (2025–26 budget). Infrastructure and Transport Australia

That is not spare change. That is real money in a cost-of-living crunch.

So shift it to a subscription model, keep emergency broadcasting arrangements if required and let people choose. If it truly speaks for the nation, the nation will voluntarily fund it.

7) Take the ABC money, and pour it into hospital capacity and ramping reduction

Here’s where I’m going to be very direct.

People in pain on trolleys, ambos stuck waiting and families frightened in emergency departments are not “state issues” to be shrugged off. It is national shame.

Redirect the billion-plus. Use it for capacity, flow and staffing pipelines:

• more ED treatment spaces
• more inpatient beds
• step-down beds so hospitals can actually discharge people safely
• mental health capacity that keeps EDs from becoming the default holding pen
• modern ambulance offload infrastructure

To anchor reality, big hospital projects do cost billions. South Australia’s new Women’s and Children’s Hospital has been discussed as a $3.2 billion project. treasury.sa.gov.au+1 Queensland’s Logan Hospital expansion is described as over $1 billion. Metro South Health

So no, one year of ABC funding does not magically build a mega-hospital in every capital. But it absolutely funds major expansions and real capacity upgrades and it can do it every single year if government stops setting fire to money elsewhere.

8) Stop borrowing for consumption, balance the budget like grown-ups

Australians understand budgets. Families do it, small businesses do it, retirees do it.

Canberra should do it too:

• no debt binge for day-to-day spending
• pay down debt in good times
• reserve borrowing for genuine national infrastructure and defence necessity, not political sugar hits

Interest costs are a silent tax. They buy you nothing, except more interest costs.

9) Restore law, order and national confidence

Government exists to do the basics:

• secure borders
• defend the nation
• enforce laws
• protect freedom of speech and association
• keep communities safe

A government that cannot deliver public safety has failed at its first job. Everything else is decoration.

10) Make government measurable, with consequences

Every major programme should have:

• a clear objective
• a published cost
• a public target
• quarterly reporting
• sunset clauses
• independent audit by default

And when targets are missed, ministers should not get to hide behind “it’s complicated”. They should lose their job. If that sounds harsh, good, harsh is how you get competence back.

The bottom line

My fellow smart Australians, 2026 should be the year we stop begging for scraps and start demanding standards.

Less ideology. Less theatre. Less “vision statements”.
More homes. More hospital capacity. More productivity. More freedom. More accountability.

Call it old-fashioned if you like. I call it Australia working again.

If we keep rewarding the circus, we will keep getting clowns. If we demand results, we might finally get adults.

Disclaimer: This article is opinion and general information only. It is not legal, financial, medical, or policy advice. Consider your circumstances and consult appropriate professionals, and check primary sources before acting.