Should send a few minds racing for answers about our society. 

But I guess that those responsible for the regressive decisions in the federal budget are far too busy "saving" us all from an economic catastrophe of everyone else's making except their own to sit back and read something with such scholarship.

Sadly, we still hold people like Charlie Teo, Fiona Woods and Ian Frazer et al in high personal regard but they are not considered worthy of incomes like Justin Beiber's or some bloke who kicks around a bag of air on Saturdays because we want to reward mediocrity and an immediate buzz for ourselves rather than the investment in society that deeper thinkers and the really talented provide.

No trouble getting a couple of hundred million to develop the sports precinct in Melbourne or wasting $50 million in an ill-fated attempt to get a soccer world cup to Australia; take it out of the CSIRO budget and we can all take to wearing coloured ribbons,wearing red plastic noses or tipping buckets of ice water over our "celebrities" to raise a few dollars to keep the research going for a variety of causes.

No worries, though, Joe Hockey told me that I have to take my medicine to help the economy and I have determined that I will do that with a smile, immediately upon hearing that he will desist charging the taxpayer $270 a day for rental on his own home in Canberra as evidence of his own personal commitment to the cause.

Just remember the story about the goose and the gander, Mr Treasurer.

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