Tonight’s (November 22) Politics in the Pub at Mullumbimby’s Courthouse Hotel features Greens senator Lee Rhiannon and retired local GP and activist/author Liz Elliott.
Ms Rhiannon told The Echo that she will be launching her new pamphlet Sold Off, Sold Out at the event.
It examines the right wing’s obsession with the privatisation – or selling off – of public assets.
Ms Rhiannon writes in the introduction that, ‘Since it came to office in 2011, the NSW coalition has sold off more than $62 billon in public assets.’
‘Over the past 30 years there has been a massive sell-off of public assets to private corporations right across Australia.
‘This privatisation binge has been indulged in by both major political parties. The evidence of opinion polls is that these sales are opposed by a majority of citizens and very often governments have paid the price at the polls.
‘Most recently the fall of the Liberal government in Western Australia has been attributed, at least in part, to its privatisation agenda.’
Examples of government sales of public infrastrucutre and institutions include the energy sector, housing, NSW Crown lands, NSW Forests, public transport, prisons, hospitals, education and human services.
Yet there are precedents for rolling back privatisation and re-nationalising, claims Greens member Hall Greenland. He says, ‘In New Zealand, the railways and ferries, privatised in 1993, were re-nationalised in 2008. Rail infrastructure was renationalised in the UK too after the failure of privatisation.’ Politics in the Pub is on November 22 at the Mullum Court House Hotel from 6.30pm.
That would be an absolutely riveting evening….glad I missed it.
It is interesting that the Greens are toting publicly owned rail services. That would mean that if their policy to bring back closed rail lines like that on the Northern Rivers were to succeed, than rail buffs would need to pay heed to the advice of the public rail provider, rather than suggesting the private Elements tram would provide a model for a commuter rail service. The advice to Government was that a return of XPT services run would cost 900m dollars. The advice to the Legislative Council by RailCorp was that the costing and patronage fro a commuter service did not make it economic. So what is the rail buffs response. Abandon the support of the Greens approach and try and get private capital for their allegedly cheap commuter rail service? Or accept that a government run service will never be economic and with the Greens try and come up with reasons why the population along the line , statistically a younger population, more likely to own and use a car, should get far more of the transport budget than the older public transport dependent people who live away from the line.