Seems like Government-Private-Dictatorships (GPDs) under the guise of Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) are on-the-nose.

What we need is true PPPs. The only way to get that is for the public to be involved with the tender process. Now that would be messy unless:

* The current system of ex-government ministers and public servants working for the tenderers be outlawed.
In systems Analysis this practice is equal to positive feedback and in any system that leads to instability. It is the ONLY reason for the failure of the RTA and the Cross City Tunnel (CCT).

* All contract conditions for PPP contracts must be made PUBLIC. Any secret conditions like those surrounding the CCT should be made legally UNbinding.

* At least 3 months must be allowed after the contract conditions are made public to enable voters to debate the effects they will have and whether pricing is acceptable.

Now these changes will hinder and delay PPPs. No one wants that. But I submit, if PPPs were done with creative intent rather than a predatory intent, ways could be found to make future PPPs mutually beneficial to both public and private sector alike. Governments and government officials will have to forgo their glory and their kickbacks for this to work. I don't believe that will be as big a problem as disheartened voters might think. Private enterprise will woo the main man every time and if that man is the 'man in the street' they will find a way and we will get the infrastructure we want at a mutually agreeable price.

However one fly remains in the ointment. 100,000 new people come to Sydney every year under a biased Howard immigration package. Immigration to SYDNEY must stop until the current infrastructure crisis is at least under control. If people continue to only want to come to Sydney then total immigration targets must be cut drastically. You cannot solve the infrastructure problems of a sprawling city like Sydney and manage NSW if objectives are continually undergoing ENLARGEMENT. Eventually people must force Howard to accept responsibility for this.

Privatization is to me, one of the dirtiest words in our current political landscape.

Every time the Commonwealth Bank increases some fee, or adds a new charge, I curse the Labor Government for privatizing it.

When I ring Telstra to complain about them increasing charges to my ISP, who in turn is now charging me more, and am basically told bluntly "Its competitive market...shop around" sure.. shop among the others who rely on Telstra to supply them wholesale net work access..
- I feel sick.. and curse the Liberal government for selling a profit making concern in return for short term ONCE only cash injection.

Last night I had a dream. We were at some camp/retreat situation, and KIM BEASELY was there... toward the end of the dream, I said to my fellow campers "I'm going for a run".. then, b4 I went, I thought .."Hey.. this is an opportunity to ask Kim about why they privatized the CBA and to ask about the financial dynamics of the fantastic dental scheme for health card holders".. but he started to glaze over and trailed off in political woffle and I woke up.

Give me a political party which has the people at heart.. (yes, I want a peoples bank, and a health card holders dental scheme)
and is willing to promote national identity, secure and non threatening immigration policies, is not linked to either Big Business or Big Labor, does not have psychological and moral problems like the Greens and Democrats...and they have my vote.

Woops... I think that dream is still going on......zzzzzzzzzzz

KAEP.. wise words indeed mate... I read your post again and thought it deserved comment and serious encouragement...

I hereby appoint you as 'Infrastructure Minister' in our new party :)

Any Accountants nearby ? You can be 'Peoples Bank' director !

Dentists ?

I'll meet you all in Puchbowl Park, and we can launch the party..

I'll take on "Immigration/Resettlement/National Identity" and I'll have about 50 well trained security guards and maybe a few Rotties on hand :)

P.S. I'm from/in Melbourne, but would make the trip for this.

I notice that Des Moore once worked for Treasury and probably left before the concept of natural monopolies became a widespread concept.

Stated simply utilities are considered natural monopolies. Would Victorians explain the advantages of chosing who sends your electricity or gas bill when the gas is still pumped out of Bass Strait and the electricity is still generated in Yallourn. The diseconomies of scale of having 5 seperate billing databases for a population of 2 million customers must be enormous. I shudder at the thought of 6 electricity CEO's on $500,000 when we used to have 1 CEO paid $200,000.

Sadly Victorians have experienced how accountants define a 99% service level, when the natural gas facility was inoperable for 3 weeks in 1997. Engineers had built a system with built in redundancy but accountants averaged the down time over the 30 year operation of the plant.

Can you imagine being able to chose which toll road you will take to get to the CBD or drive along to bypass the CBD. Cities would be a spagetti like maze of roads. Clearly roads are also another natural monopoly.

Outsourcing services - well Des must have a real chip on his shoulder or really be out to lop the tall poppies and very pleased that the business of government is in the secure hands of low paid Indians, while Australian graduates work at McDonalds.

Des Moore's brief foot in the puddle comments indicate what is wrong with Australian governments.Australian parents are forking out millions in fee paying private schools is a saving to the Australian Public.The reverse is the fact. The reason why these schools exist is because state schools have become the scum of the education system.
State school students receive a second class education that prepares them for a life of unskilled work.This has been quantified by the recent results that South Australian state schools have the counties lowest score for higher maths. At the same time the Adelaide City Council is advertising for local Employers to get overseas Skilled migrants if they cannot find an Australian. The morale of students in South Australia is at an all time low with no school pride such as a school blazers being worn or infact any uniform unless you are sporty enought to represent your school in sport when a uniform is provided.
Australian youth today do not see their State governments doing projects such as the Snowy Scheme or Brown Coal mines but see the government selling assets to overseas investors who have never been the victims of the Australian Taxation system which rips off local young employees to the tune of 20,30,40 or even 50% tax on their personal income then sells assets to Asian entrepenous who have never paid personal tax,and have accumulated wealth TAX FREE.
Asian students have even been allowed to study in Australia on the cheap.Their parents who pay no local tax both in their country or Australia.Have paid fees to the schools for their years of education.
These fees do not in anyway reflect the millions of dollars of inferstructure that ordinary Aussies have paid for, over a century.

I am reluctant to accept the view that there are real benefits from PPPs.

I can accept that it is a role for governments to outsource work that the private sector now does, eg, printing of government reports, and that it should be an aim to encourage beneficial competition, eg, breaking up electricity monopolies. (I can't help but say that breaking up Telstra would probably be the biggest single long term competitive benefit to the Australian economy). I can even accept that there are cogent arguments for outsourcing of certain public sector functions, although I think the cost benefits are rarely examined closely.

But I think PPPs are the junk bonds of private sector involvement with government. I think the key differences with PPPs is the loss of government control over public service delivery and the limits that these contractually provided services impose.

I don't believe government at any level is up to the task of negotiating PPPs, or ensuring that it is the public that benefits and actually receives the public goods being paid for. PPPs would seem to be good news for businesses wishing to gouge the unsuspecting Australian taxpayers.