English

Noun

government stroke ‎(uncountable)

1. (Australia, slang) The deliberately slow pace of work supposed to be typical of government workers.^[1]
   • 1991 December 2, Donald Bowman, debate before the New South Wales Legislative Assembly:

     Why not just leave things as they are and say, "We are going to run this government organisation efficiently; we are going to make sure that the government stroke has disappeared, that the managers are on the ball and that the customers get good service".

2. (Australia, slang, obsolete or historical) The amount work that a convict was required to complete each day.^[2]

References

1. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission Radio National Lingua Franca program, 24 August 2002 .
2. ↑ 1996, Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore ISBN 1-86046-150-6.