Kellie, what a great article. I watched I think it was called Liquid Gold, about how Private enterprise was able to control water and turn it into a bonanza from CEO's and share holders.

I think many of the decisions made by governments in regards to deals with private enterprise, have the very strong smell of corruption.

Funny that. Isn't it?

Wasn't that the premise of the latest James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace"? Private company takes over small South American country's water supply and in turn pay large amounts of cash to the incumbent (at least as long as the largess continues) dictator/premier.

Water like power are integral parts of 21st century infrastructure and critical to the public. It therefore is beyond belief that governments of all colours can sell off these essential components. I don't remember voting to give the key to the hen house to international interests; particularly in this era of GFC tainted corps.

Kelly, Peter
What makes you think the people running the state won't run it for their own interests? Are they not human beings? Are they angels, perfect beings, are they?

What makes you think they won't use the government's monopoly of ultimate decision-making, and of force, to make decisions that provoke conflicts and then resolve those conflicts in their own favour? You yourself have pointed it out. Yet you want *more* political decision-making as a solution? Huh?

There is no reason or evidence to support your assumption that, absent the signals of profit and loss, governments will be both more productive, and more fair.

Food is essential too - should that be run by a government monopoly, perhaps on collective farms? Sex, friendship and shoes are also important goods. Should they also be the subject of a government monopoly and vast bureaucracies whose operations are determined by deal-making between private political parties trading votes of vocal minorities in marginal seats once every three years, without the need to perform any of their promises, and safe from any action for fraud or breach of promise?

At least profit is a direct result of the behaviour of the mass of the people in preferring the provision of a particular good for which the masses scramble.

Kelly talks about "our" water, but that must be false whichever way you look at it. You urge for the state to have control over water. Well guess what? "We" don't have any ownership interest in it... the state does. But if you argue that the state represents society, that the state is society, then you have no ground to complain

Those who live by the sword, perish by the sword. You have plumped for the disposition of a certain resource to be in the hands of a compulsory monopoly of force, and then are disappointed when their decisions are unproductive and unfair. Well surprise surprise. What other result did you expect?

But suppose the result had satisfied you, but left other people with the same dissatisfaction that you now feel? Still how can you justify proceeding this way?

There can be no more wasteful, corrupt or stupid way of arranging the provision of a scarce resource than to put it in the hands of a party who pays no cost for getting it wrong.

There is not the slightest reason to think the political control of the water supply will produce a service that is more productive or fairer than open competition from private providers who are personally exposed to the risk of loss and the opportunity of profit.

Governmental ownership and control of water should be abolished.

Governments are not perfect but there are some resources better managed by 'the people' for 'the people' than by large corporates who are only (by law) beholden to shareholders.

Governments are at least accountable to the point of the next election when we can toss them out for mismanagement but how do the disempowered rally against a private corporation. Market competition is out as it is a limited resource. Corporations are about cost cutting to maximise profits. How will they be audited? Will there be mandatory health checks and testing of water contamination?

This is happening in a number of regional areas where councils with state government support are indeed handing over the keys to essential services to foreign owned companies.

It is disconcerting that it is also the Labor governments that are getting in on the privatisation act - prisons, energy, water, waste treatment etc.

What has happened to our Labor governments? I can see a future where the Greens will forge ahead to be real force in Australian politics if Labor does not improve their game. If Kernot had never left the Australian Democrats I would have predicted a much larger share of the vote to their candidates particularly at the Federal level.

The fact is governments aren't listening but maybe we will be lucky enough to get some more Nick Xenophons into the mix.