Come hasbeen settle your bias is always on display so why not mine?
I think a bit differently than you on most issues.
Child minding is a part of our culture, while some may wish mothers to stay at home reality has a different view.
Those homes can not be paid for on one wage nor can the health education and a host of things much needed.
Not to forget women have a right to the same freedoms men have.
Single parents male and female need to work.
And we need those skills they have in the workforce.
Now while Turnbull is not impressing me with his cry baby opposition tactics, he can do better than that, he may well be right, can we prop up private enterprise forever?
Are poster aware workers in this industry are amung the worst paid in this country?
I see solutions in the idea of smaller privately owned centers.
I see blame in ABC,s builder.
And maybe hope in Rudd's idea last year of centers being part of our schools.
Why not build them in school grounds and let them out as a subsidy in return for some say in prices charged?

I had to return.
Just had to.
Like an itch I had to scratch.
Hasbeen mate.
Can it be?
We differ in every thread can it be?
Are you by any chance?
No surely?
Are you John Howard?

Hasbeen, if you want an example of private V public when it comes to efficiency simply compare your local council building approval throughput to that of a private certifier. Public run institutions are a joke and for belly to suggest this as an option is just him justifying why he also feels that an un-skilled labourer is entitled to $35 + an hour.

The wheels are about to fall off and many of these thugs earning $2K + a week will be a thing of the past so this should lead to some interesting threads from our old mate hey.

Now somebody suggested that CC be established within schools. What a great idea. This would be a win win. Imagine one trip per day to drop the kids off, say one to CC, one to prep and two to school. Less time travling, less emmisions generated and a built in minder (older siblings) for the little ones should mum/dad be running late.

Hasbeen,
"One swallow doesn't make spring”. One could point to countless public activities that have been taken over by private enterprise and have been "cocked up" (BTW the term relates to archery) i.e. Victoria’s power generation. Private immigration camps, the job network (private enterprise isn’t doing any better).

Your quoted example is based on incomplete information. How many people does the hospital serve, what other functions are preformed. What are their specialities?

Health is one area that shouldn’t be limited by $&cents alone. Has been how much is your health worth?

Keep in mind private Doctors are businesses and 6 min medicine is a disgrace but profitable.

Private enterprise does things differently not necessarily better.

Rehctub.
I would argue that your personal interests don't make a universal fact.
I have seen awful decision made by both methods.
Likewise I've seen a council officer thwart a fraud and potential disaster perpetrated by an unscrupulous developer.
When money and private enterprise meet you have the potential for corruption.
Developers are out to make profits often viewing rules/regulations optional and public opinion merely an ignorable anoyance. Often these shortcuts & failure to comply with conditions are the causes for conflict/delays not the officers.

Unlike other nations, Australian families were uniquely exposed to the fortunes of a single corporation.

That childcare should never have been monopolised by an organisation like ABC should be a no-brainer. Now it has fallen and requires more help from the government.

Where interests of children and the elderly are in conflict with the interests of shareholders, how is a high standard of care going to be maintained? Whose interest will be served? Please note that Government subsidy and support is available whether childcare is run by a community centre or a private provider, the same applies to the Aged Care sector.

How can a for-profit business truly be considered private when a percentage of its profit is derived from government subsidies (our taxes)?

This brings into question the entire validity of the Care sector being privatised at all. Aged care facilities (at which I once worked) receive subsidies depending on the type of care required for its residents, irrespective of whether the facility is private or not-for-profit. I would rather my taxes be spent in the NFP sector than to someone who is profiting from essential care, be it for our children or elderly.

And there is no change in sight, Labor is committed to increase the child-care tax rebate to 50% of out-of-pocket expenses (the amount paid by parents taking into account child-care benefit). This is a gift to for-profit child-care services. They increase prices knowing that the taxpayer will be footing the bill for at least half the cost of any increase.

Child care should not be at the scant mercy of the sharemarket. In many European countries, the government provides child care as a community service and profit-making is not permitted. Whereas in Australia 70% of day-care services is provided by the private sector.

The current bail-out provides the means by which child-care can be returned to the responsibility of the not-for-profit sector.

Then we can start on Aged Care.

Heartily agree Fractelle.

There are certain sectors of care that work best as NFP. As soon as profit comes into it the care becomes a secondary motivation. It is all very well to argue that the market will fix it, competition blah blah blah - but clearly it doesn't.

In the meantime while we wait for the market to fix it there are real human beings who are affected particularly in aged care.

We are seeing more of this privatising profit, socialising debt phenomenon and we should all be shouting from the rooftops - enough is enough!