Why? Because,as everyone knows,the public sector is inefficient,whereas the private sector is highly efficient. Because it would be so much better to have more of us working for business and fewer working for the various arms of government. The greater efficiency should lead to lower taxes.
I’ve pointed to instances where this mixture of ideology and tribalism has failed,leading to lower quality services without much evident saving to the taxpayer. In a democracy,it’s always right to hold governments ultimately responsible for their stuff-ups.
But is that the whole story? My mate’s looking at it from a different angle:what do the many failed attempts to hand service delivery to for-profit operators say about the ethics and trustworthiness of Australia’s business people?
That,for a surprising number of them,if you see some money lying around with nobody watching,you grab it? That while ripping-off customers is unethical and will soon get you a bad reputation,overcharging “the government” is a harmless,victimless crime? No human was hurt in the making of this profit?
While ripping-off customers is unethical ... overcharging “the government” is a harmless,victimless crime.
One of the first government services to be outsourced was childcare. Before long,a single company bought up more than half the childcare centres,expanded overseas and then collapsed. To avoid leaving many parents in the lurch,government had to step in and sort it – at great expense.
Much of the sector remains privately owed. Last week the United Workers Union produced a report finding that three-quarters of the 12,000 enforcement actions taken since 2015 were against for-profit providers.