Australia's rent seekers are firmly on notice: it's the end of corporate welfare. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has never been so direct: no government has ever subsidised its way to prosperity, he declared, adding a good kick from his R.M. Williams boot to the stupidity of ''knee-jerk piecemeal deals''.

What a difference a few months makes. During the election campaign, Tony Abbott flew to Tasmania and blithely handed a gift of $16 million to the Cadbury chocolate factory. Cadbury, owned by a multinational giant, had reported a 64 per cent burgeoning in its profit to $74.9 million last year.

Abbott at the time argued that Tasmania had been ''left behind, big-time'' on almost all economic measures, and his was a pragmatic approach to a special case in aid of ''job, jobs and jobs''.