Where "Razor Gang" Comes From
The term borrows from the real Sydney "razor gangs" of the late 1920s, criminals who used cut-throat razors as weapons, before drifting into workplace slang for cost-cutters by the 1950s.
Its Australian political meaning dates to 1980, when the Fraser Government set up an expenditure-review committee chaired by Phillip Lynch, with John Howard and Margaret Guilfoyle, which recommended cutting or transferring around 350 government functions when it reported in 1981.
The new razor gang was told to find a billion dollars in savings.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used in the media whenever a government sets up a committee to find budget cuts or savings.
Carries a slightly ominous, tabloid-headline flavour — cuts are coming, and someone's job or program is on the chopping block.
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