…at the heart of the theory that privatisation will provide better services at lower costs is the absurd assumption that the vulnerable can stand up for themselves.
The quotation comes from Richard Dennis’s response to the announcement of a royal commission into aged care.
Denniss is one of Australia’s more consistently sensible and lucid commentators.
His latest essay is published today in the Australian edition of The Guardian.
Its first sentence:
The royal commission Australia really needs is one into the spectacular – almost complete – failure of our regulators to protect the vulnerable from the greedy.
Its key question:
why it is that NGOs and journalists are better at uncovering scandals than the regulatory bodies which are given billions of dollars per year to perform exactly that task?
Click here to read the full essay.
(The photograph atop this post depicts a blind giant who cannot take decisive action. I took the photo when the Nantes-based Royal de Luxe brought The Giants to Australia for the 2015 Perth Festival)
Thanks for the link Doug. I always enjoy reading Richard Denniss’s contributions! I have one of his books. I’ll share the link on my Facebook page.