Keating, Kennett, Kerin, Keneally, Bligh, Napthine and Newman all lost office because they privatised things, or proposed to, and it now seems Baird might do so too, if the recent polling is accurate. It is worth asking why this is so.

The answer is not hard to divine. Old people have with taxes all their lives bought and built and maintained entities – Qantas, the Commonwealth Bank, the Southern Aurora, the Sydney airport, the Opera House Lottery, the CSIRO – they are proud of. And these entities, in turn, have made money which comes back to them. It funds hospitals, roads, university courses, research into a cure for Alzheimers, and so on.

When the utility is sold, that money no longer comes back to them. It no longer funds poor students, or cures disease. It goes to a particular millionaire, often a foreign one, and his already wealthy shareholders. It no longer comes, in benefits, to the taxpayer who, over decades, bought it and maintained it. It goes to ‘other priorities’: new tollways to the western suburbs, whose daily tolls cost even more money; electricity bills enriching, as they did in South Australia, Chinese corporations; or invading strangers digging ancestral green acres for coal seam gas.

It doesn’t come to Australians any more. It goes to the Chinese, or similar.

It is precisely like ‘selling off the farm’, the farm whose cows and chickens fed your children, to a foreign rich man, who takes its produce overseas, and sells it there.

So xenophobia and socialism link hands on this issue, the Greens, the Nationals and Alan Jones. Not just ‘our ABC’ but ‘our electricity’ are defended at the barricades of the conservative tendency, not the revolutionary one.

Keating, Kennett, Kerin, Keneally, Napthine, Newman and Bligh have lost office because of this.

And Baird, almost certainly, is next.


http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2015/03/16/why-nobody-likes-privatisation/

John S wrote on Mar 16^th, 2015 at 10:47am:

Keating, Kennett, Kerin, Keneally, Bligh, Napthine and Newman all lost office because they privatised things, or proposed to, and it now seems Baird might do so too, if the recent polling is accurate. It is worth asking why this is so. The answer is not hard to divine. Old people have with taxes all their lives bought and built and maintained entities – Qantas, the Commonwealth Bank, the Southern Aurora, the Sydney airport, the Opera House Lottery, the CSIRO – they are proud of. And these entities, in turn, have made money which comes back to them. It funds hospitals, roads, university courses, research into a cure for Alzheimers, and so on. When the utility is sold, that money no longer comes back to them. It no longer funds poor students, or cures disease. It goes to a particular millionaire, often a foreign one, and his already wealthy shareholders. It no longer comes, in benefits, to the taxpayer who, over decades, bought it and maintained it. It goes to ‘other priorities’: new tollways to the western suburbs, whose daily tolls cost even more money; electricity bills enriching, as they did in South Australia, Chinese corporations; or invading strangers digging ancestral green acres for coal seam gas. It doesn’t come to Australians any more. It goes to the Chinese, or similar. It is precisely like ‘selling off the farm’, the farm whose cows and chickens fed your children, to a foreign rich man, who takes its produce overseas, and sells it there. So xenophobia and socialism link hands on this issue, the Greens, the Nationals and Alan Jones. Not just ‘our ABC’ but ‘our electricity’ are defended at the barricades of the conservative tendency, not the revolutionary one. Keating, Kennett, Kerin, Keneally, Napthine, Newman and Bligh have lost office because of this. And Baird, almost certainly, is next. http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2015/03/16/why-nobody-likes-privatisation/

I'm a Liberal voter (moderate conservative).

I also agree with your OP.

Short sightedness appears to be a recurring problem, irrespective of who gets into power.

Have you a solution?

Another dreamer.

First of all, the latest poll, Galaxy has Libs at 54-46.

Next, Keating's fall from popularity had to do with a wide range of issues, not the least of which was 13 years was enough.
Kenneally, Bligh, Napthine, Newman all had to do with just plain bad governments on just about all fronts.

To try and link the fall of all these govts to privatisation demonstrates either a desperate need to deceive or a sad misunderstanding of political trends.

bogarde73 wrote on Mar 16^th, 2015 at 12:50pm:

Another dreamer. First of all, the latest poll, Galaxy has Libs at 54-46. Next, Keating's fall from popularity had to do with a wide range of issues, not the least of which was 13 years was enough. Kenneally, Bligh, Napthine, Newman all had to do with just plain bad governments on just about all fronts. To try and link the fall of all these govts to privatisation demonstrates either a desperate need to deceive or a sad misunderstanding of political trends.

... and a total lack of understanding as to what happens after privatisation!

Quote:

Nobody likes privatisation

Not strictly true - rent seekers LOVE privatisation.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Mar 16^th, 2015 at 1:29pm:

bogarde73 wrote on Mar 16th, 2015 at 12:50pm: Another dreamer. First of all, the latest poll, Galaxy has Libs at 54-46. Next, Keating's fall from popularity had to do with a wide range of issues, not the least of which was 13 years was enough. Kenneally, Bligh, Napthine, Newman all had to do with just plain bad governments on just about all fronts. To try and link the fall of all these govts to privatisation demonstrates either a desperate need to deceive or a sad misunderstanding of political trends. ... and a total lack of understanding as to what happens after privatisation!

Tell that to Victorians who pay nearly $1000 a year :o just for the privilege of having electricity and gas connected.

Very difficult to communicate with Victorians. I've tried over the years to have meaningful discussion with buzz for example, all to no avail.

Nothing makes my day more than seeing pampered privileged public sector workers getting the arse  ;D , who decided that they should be a protected species anyway?.

I like privatisation, privatise education next please.  :)