They are the home-grown threat that we’re all worried about. For decades, they have hated our freedoms. Where they could, they trod on them with impunity.

They refuse to assimilate or respect our way of life. Instead, they seek to subject us to their radical agenda.

It’s only a tiny minority. But it’s a minority we can’t afford to ignore.

The rich, I mean. Obviously. Did someone else come to mind?

This small but shady group is troubled by our cultural norms, like the weekend. We recognise it as a time of rest, but various business groups have begun to reduce pay for weekend work. Many thousands of café and restaurant workers have already had their Sunday rate reduced.

Picking on a vulnerable section of the population is a common tactic to sow fear within the community. A further 4.6 million workers could be targeted.

According to one of the group’s leading ideologues, BusinessDay editor Michael Pascoe, Sunday “is not so special”. The prime minister agrees. He is one of them – a devoutly wealthy man who has described weekend penalty rates as “nuts”.

Why does a minority in our society refuse to accept our way of life?

Other traditions are being renounced by extremist groups like the Business Council of Australia. Age-old customs have us show respect to the elderly, allow them to stop work and receive a pension in their later years. This custom already has been seriously undermined.

The Committee for Economic Development Australia reports that poverty among older Australians is triple the OECD average. But businesspeople believe that those who no longer work are heretics. Their sacred texts demand: “not until you’re 70”. The threat of reduced pensions has now been raised to “high”.

In fact, big business adheres to financial orthodoxy so fanatically that a virtue is made of all profit. Energy company Adani received blessing to set up the largest coal mine in Australia. Toxic waste will be dumped into the Great Barrier Reef, but these concerns are deflected with a soothing psalm: “Coal is good for humanity”.

Federal resources minister Josh Frydenberg, who was radicalised long ago, says that there’s a “strong moral case” for new coal exports.

Something must be done about this nefarious fifth column.

Pushing so hard against the will of the majority, they find it hard to accept our democratic rights and freedoms. To ensure devotion to their cause, operations to monitor the population have begun, including mandatory metadata retention of practically all communication.

Government agencies may access your data without a warrant, using the pretext even of a parking or littering offence. Mike Baird, a leading propagandist, previously made chilling threats to those seeking to avoid scrutiny. “We will hunt you down”, said the NSW premier. “You may well be listened to as we speak.”

The fringe billionaires are sponging off government handouts and giving nothing back. They simply refuse to adhere to the rules of our society.

Turnbull consistently uses a public platform to stir up support for this agenda. The Liberal Party leader recently moved legislation to exempt businesses with incomes of A$100 million or more from publishing their tax records. This is despite the fact that the Australian Tax Office reported last year that 22 percent of such companies paid no tax at all.

And news has surfaced of Turnbull’s immense fortune stashed away in the Cayman Islands. Should money found to have visited known tax-havens really be allowed to re-enter the country?

A conspiracy of secrecy shrouds high society. When will the millionaires speak out against the tax evasion rife in their community? Will big business expose the criminal elements in their midst? What are they hiding?

With such a powerful radical network openly wielding power in our society, it’s no wonder people are angry.

But the rich and their ideologues deflect the blame. They attribute all wrongdoing to someone else. Open the papers and you’ll see who. In psychology, it’s called “projection”. In politics, it’s called “governance”.