6. Military engagement in Iraq
Annual cost at least $500 million.
7. Anti-terrorism
An extra $630 million has gone to security agencies to deal with the threat of "home-grown terrorism" which Australia’s involvement in Iraq foments.
8. F-35 joint strike fighters
$12.4 billion has been allocated for these problem-plagued American stealth jets. Not the most cost effective option.
9. Marble for Canberra buildings
Defence is spending more than $500,000 on marble panelling. Carrara marble, from Italy.
10. Other bizarre defence outlays
These include celebrity speakers and a full tendering process to acquire a multipurpose knife for camping out.
11. Futile search for missing Malaysian aircraft 370
Estimated at $1 million per day.
12. Royal commission into the pink batts
This vindictive political witch-hunt cost an estimated $20 million, discovered nothing new and failed completely to explore the real questions demanding answers.
13. Royal commission into trade unions
Another political vendetta squandered an estimated $61 million.
14. Direct Action Plan
This pays some businesses to reduce carbon emissions but frees others to increase theirs. The waste is about $2.55 billion over four years, plus costs incurred thereafter.
15. Religion
Money is now available to train priests and other religious workers and for school chaplains, while funding for non-religious counsellors is cut.
16. Pseudo-sciences
Federal funds are now available for homeopathy and Bach flower therapy.

18. Travel expenses for ministers, staff and families
These have been rorted shamelessly, with flights to a wedding claimed. Total blow-out is unknown because the Government is withholding the information.
19. VIP jets instead of commercial flights
Ministers spent about $900,000 in just two months in late 2013. Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s blithe assertion that VIP jets were “probably cheaper” was shown to be blatantly false by an ABC fact check
21. Salary for nothing
A department axed by the Government continued to pay the top bureaucrat $7,000 a week for months until another role was eventually found.
22. Public service hand-outs
Fat cats receive outrageous bonuses on top of already bloated salaries.
23. Lease termination
Charges of $65,000 were incurred when Abbott refused to live in the Forrest house rented for him during the 2013 election caretaker period.
24. The Lodge
Lavish renovations costing a staggering $6.38 million were approved in December. That is double the original estimate and more than the cost of demolition and rebuild.
25. Department of Industry and Science
$10,827 went on a coffee table.
26. G20 table
Treasury spent $36,005 on a conference table for the November summit in Brisbane.
27. Table transport
That conference table was made in the ACT. So the Government spent another $26,298 shipping it to Brisbane. Why did the tender not stipulate assembly in Brisbane?
28. Chairs
After the table had been built and transported to Queensland, chairs were also bought in the ACT – for a staggering $68,525.
29. Koalas
$24,000 was then blown in a few minutes of G20 koala diplomacy.
30. High tech theatrette
Taxpayers paid almost $330,000 in September 2013 for a Canberra space for Scott Morrison’s border protection briefings. It was fitted out, including with an $800 door knob, but not used. Briefings were held in Sydney until discontinued in December 2013.
31. Perks for MPs
These include $15,442 for Attorney-General George Brandis’ bookcase.
32. ‘Obscene’ long lunches
Joe Hockey spent $50,000 to fly a celebrity chef to Washington to cook one meal.

Gawd, obsessive much?

6. Media blitz
Trying to defend the widely resented university changes cost $14.6 million.
37. Damage control
The strategic communications branch of the PM’s department employs 37 spin doctors in a forlorn attempt to polish the PM’s image. Cost to the taxpayer: $4.3 million per year. That is on top of the 95 communications staff engaged on border control, costing at least $8 million annually, and many other spin merchants elsewhere.
38. News media monitoring
According to Fairfax, just seven departments spent $1.2 million on "market research" in four months last year.
39. Interest on government debt
This is up from $12.2 billion in 2012-13 to $14.7 billion in 2014. With more to come.
40. Commission of Audit
And finally, as if to underscore this administration’s grinding incompetence, the commission set up to help cut Government waste not only utterly failed there, but blew out its own $1 million budget by 150%

579, what is your incomplete pasted list doing in this thread?

I hold the Senator in high regard after reading his various pieces here. James O'Neil says tax pensions as if they were income? Yes lets especially the Public Service ones and especially the politicians. I appreciate the Senator is not getting the solid gold political pension but others are so fix that now.
No pension paid until you reach your legal pensionable age and taxed as income when you do. Who will give me odds that will ever happen?
I also say O'Neil is right about our wasteful and stupid defence spending too.
O'Neil is wrong about the debate we need to have however, Leyonjhelm is on our side but sadly a lonely voice.