The SA Liberal government took another step towards socialism over the weekend by announcing that they would be pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into private enterprise wine production and hospitality in the Adelaide Hills.

The 'champions' of private enterprise and lack of government interference in their affairs were extremely grateful. The first to whinge about red tape and government regulation; the first to grab public money from the same government. Hypocrites! Fake private enterprise governments! The SA taxpayers will be paying for the far-to-high wages of the pseudo private companies.

Won't this move be an investment resulting in jobs,
and keeping a tourist industry alive.
Sounds like a good investment for the state.

ttbn,
What do reckon the catch is ?

Foxy,
I'm sure you'd be in favour of equal pay for women so, would you support those men on public service pays receiving the same as women & reduce their salaries ?
How about taking the present salaries as bench marks & reduce the men's salaries by a quarter & raising the women's salaries by a quarter. No extra money involved so it should not put any extra pressure on the Govt !
Oh & yes, freeze these salaries for three federal terms !

Personally I think the recession/Depression is now started. Wo betide the new government, it will win a poisoned chalice. We will have to re-start valuations, every saver will be raided, every investor will lose and Government will have to economise for many years.
Personally I believe that if each of us pensioners and poor people were to give just a few dollars a week then the very rich could become even richer.
Now retired, I intend to party! party! on holiday until I run out of money then "find" a Woolworths trolley (The biggest) and go on a treasure hunt.

Individual,

No catch. Just socialism.

Governments have no business handing public funds over to private enterprise. In the capitalist system, government and private enterprise should remain separate - just like the government and religion.

Public money should be used for the public good: services, infrastructure and welfare. Money lenders, banks and financiers, risk their own money (not other people's like government has done in this case and in many others).

If a private company needs capital to expand, the system dictates that they go to a bank or a private financier with a business PLAN. If that plan is a good one, the lender will decide if they should loan the money - risk their money in anticipation of a profit.

No such thing happens when politicians start slinging around money that is not theirs. If they lose other people's money, they don't suffer the loss. And, governments are notoriously bad at picking winners.

We will never know (because of the good old 'commercial in confidence’ lurk, even with OUR money) whether or not these businesses about to get our money went to a private lender, and were refused finance as is becoming more common in hard times. Or if they are just plain no-hopers with big ideas and no business sense.

And, be aware of this - one in three new small businesses in Australia fail in their first year of operation, two out of four by the end of the second year, and three out of four by the fifth year.

No government should be risking, or giving, taxpayers’ money to anything having such poor prospects.