Government-owned firms are often branded as uncompetitive, stuck in the past and unable to truly innovate. But they’re sometimes better suited than private firms to drive new, clean technologies.
The fifth episode of a series from The Anthill Podcast on how recoveries from major crises throughout history focuses on what happened after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Australian and Victorian governments have both promised funding for a Melbourne Airport rail link, but a private consortium’s unsolicited proposal is also on the table.
Stefan Postles/AAP
Unsolicited market proposals are not transparently assessed. Infrastructure should be built to serve the public interest, not shaped by its private backers, but the checks to ensure this are broken.
Public schools in some states outsourced their cleaning services to private companies as part of a neoliberal experiment starting in the 1990s. This has had a host of impacts, including on students.
Turning prisons into a market opportunity could open them up to corruption.
Gladys Berejiklian’s government will pay for much of WestConnex construction, give away other toll roads, guarantee annual toll increases and force motorists to use the toll road.
AAP Image/Joel Carrett
Under current EU rules, Britain cannot recreate a railway monopoly. It can, however, follow the lead of other EU countries in bringing more of the rail sector into public ownership.