While gender issues dominated the framing and reaction to Christine Holgate’s appearance before a Senate committee inquiry yesterday, it gave further impetus to a narrative that Labor may yet fruitfully exploit in the next election campaign.
The received political wisdom right now is that the government’s fate will hinge on its success or otherwise in rolling out its vaccination program. As it happens, that’s at the intersection of the two biggest issues that voters say influence their voting decisions: the economy and health services. Vaccination rollout should mean an end to the threat of COVID-19, reopening of borders, a return to economic normality, Australians dancing in the streets, etc.
But think back to the 2016 election when Labor generated, from basically nothing, an entire campaign based around saving Medicare from privatisation. It nearly carried Bill Shorten to a remarkable victory over Malcolm Turnbull.
Medicare is, for all that it’s a cliché, iconic. But the Mediscare campaign also tapped in to a deep voter hatred of privatisation. Voters dislike it, no matter which way they vote. They see it, rightly or wrongly, as a means by which corporations get to profit from ripping off customers who once got much better service for much lower costs from government.
And Labor has now seized on Holgate’s evidence yesterday to argue part of the reason for her shabby treatment was her opposition to a secret plan floated by Boston Consulting Group that might have led to both closures of post offices and potentially the privatisation of the corporation’s parcel business. Labor’s communications spokesperson Michelle Rowland has been hammering the theme in the last 24 hours.
For the record, in 2014 69% of voters opposed the privatisation of Australia Post, higher even than opposition to privatisation of the ABC and SBS. How much that has changed in recent years for a service that most of us now use only for parcel delivery isn’t clear. But, while it’s no “icon”, chances are voters still don’t regard the idea with any enthusiasm.
In fact, there’s no good reason why Australia Post shouldn’t be privatised, as long as it’s done with a focus on effective delivery of services rather than maximising the return to the government. Parcel delivery, in particular, is a bog-standard commercial business that corporations can and already do perform perfectly well, and often better than StarTrack. But good luck making that argument to the electorate. It’s noteworthy that Mathias Cormann, who oversaw the successful sale of Medibank Private, was decidedly cool on flogging off Australia Post.
Labor claims of a secret agenda to sell off “our iconic Australia Post” are thus likely to fall on fertile ground.
It isn’t just about Holgate. Labor has upped its mentions of privatisation of late. Shayne Neumann, veterans’ affairs spokesperson, now talks about how “42% of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has been outsourced, labour-hired or privatised”. On a recent trip to Tasmania, Anthony Albanese repeatedly referred to the state Liberal government “privatising essential services like TAFE”.
Australia Post has nothing to do with health services, of course, but Labor has been cashing in on a steady flow of documents about the NDIS and the alleged independent review undertaken of it that demonstrate, in the words of Bill Shorten, “secret plans to make radical cuts to the NDIS”.
Shorten and Labor have had a virtual free kick on NDIS since Linda Reynolds was shunted from Defence to the portfolio. Reynolds, a tepid performer even before the Brittany Higgins issue wrecked her credibility and sent her to hospital, will be in the front line against what is likely to be a strong Labor campaign to “save the NDIS”.
Over in Communications, another poor performer, the slothful Paul Fletcher, will have to respond to a full-blown campaign against a “secret agenda to privatise Australia Post”. As the Turnbull government found, however unfounded such scare campaigns are, it’s very, very hard to fight them once they get traction.
Underneath the economy and the rollout, Labor is accumulating some useful ammunition. It won’t be repeating the 2019 mistake of it being the target, not the government.
‘there’s no good reason why Australia Post shouldn’t be privatised’ except that every service that the government has privatised ends up costing us more for worse service. Not to mention the secrecy behind the deals, the absence of legitimate tenders, the awarding of these services to ‘mates’ and the corruption underpinning all such deals.
Exactly my thoughts as soon as I read “no reason AP shouldn’t be privatised”.
Absolutely spot on.
I first read it as “no reason it should be privatised” and thought hallelujah, BK has seen the light.
I blame the laser surgery to repair a retinal tear a few days ago.
It is just as real to say there is no reason to privatise, and there are basically zero examples of privatisation that lead to better and/or cheaper services. Zero. Zilch, Nada.
In fact, the history of privatisations is replete with seller’s remorse. Fool me once …
Spot on !
And what good reason is there for privatising it? Bernard showing some of his old failings again. I don’t want a perfectly good service, miles better than some of the private operators, falling into the hands of the Liberals’ mates. They’d sack staff, strip service and raise charges; as inevitable as night following day. Anyway, you’ve nailed it diana.
Maaaate…plenty of good reasons to privatise Aust Post.
These are the major ones.
Correction. 2 reasons listed.
LNP – 101.
Privatisation was and is a scam practiced upon the Australian public, and the public know it. We still have publicly owned utilities – it’s just that they’re not owned by the Australian public. Privatised utilities are not cheaper, they don’t provide better service and they certainly don’t provide secure jobs and careers. Rent seekers and parasites, they will ultimately fail and we will have to take their ruined carcasses back into public ownership and rebuild them.
Economic probs and scandals are the big voter swayers i reckon….preferably both happening at the same time, if you’re in opposition.
The intractable nature of humans is a tough thing to combat….even on the way to the polls, the slightly ambivalent voter is inclined, i reckon, to go for the devil they know.
They need to be pushed over that edge, and that only happens when they feel it, not just think it.
Trying to survive on Newstart, after losing Jobkeeper, would definitely make you feel it. Having a son or daughter told they no longer qualify for the NDIS, when they just patently do, that’d make you feel it. And scandal after scandal where the uncaring pollies not only get away with whatever they’ve done, but get some generous payout, or a new cushy job, really makes you feel like your face is being squashed into the mud while they laugh all the way to the bank.
I think the Libs are definitely headed in this direction, but there’s still plenty of time before the next election has to be held, so they’ll be waiting for passions to subside, and some economic good news to point to.
But their biggest achilles’ heel might well be Morrison’s predilection for putting his foot in it again and again.
AND where is the what was it 15 billion in handouts to big corp mates with no questions asked cause most media accepted the propanganda around its validity. Just like how they say we are responsible for so far avoiding a pandemic? Frydenberg bleating for months bout Andrews and his hard lockdown; meanwhile the rest of us do the hard work for the top boys in their hallowed hidden boardrooms. Gas mates, job networks so called providers on a huge profit out of OUR PIE ICAC
Yes Glenn, the votes change on feelings. These scandals and failed responses all add up to a general feeling, of incompetence, graft, pigs snouts in the trough etc. Australians have been remarkably impervious to updating their feelings on the back of 3 rank incompetent govts, but it must be sinking in, even with Murdoch’s backing.
Looking at the origins of ‘Mediscare’, how unfounded was it?
When one looks at such sources as an IPA wishlist, government actions look like it’s their playbook. Marketisation, competition and ‘consumer choice’ is the mantra in the shorter term. E.g. aged home care package delivery. Indue card. Etc etc
Not very “unfounded” you don’t create a Medicare Privatisation taskforce for no reason. And yes it did exist!
All it would take is for the Minister to go and look at the places people with disabilities live and to experience the services they require. The emotional toll on the staff of the NDIA is phemonemal. Not only is there the emotional distress of working first hand with people who really need way more than a hand, they are now part of the toxic organisation that promised the world and is now selling the clients out.
Write a story on the staff of the NDIA and how badly they get treated and why the attrition rate is so high and how people that leave aren’t replaced and how the work load is passed on to those that stay to the point that their case loads are so unrealistic they can’t do the job properly. If you can find one to be anonymous. It’s really bad.
do a search on the so called companies who are parasites; huge millions in so called capital properties but they are indebt on operational basis ; all creative accounting and they called this the “not for Profit sector” ahem.. Yep until the assists are liquidated. It is so depressing when one does the detective work. But it is so corrupt; sad thing is these guys actually believe they have the right to rort the public to the tune of billions and at the costs of public owned assets and infrastructure; check out the car parking in our national cities while you’re at it; what a cartel pardon the pun. SO so undemocratic and simply a lot of grifters. Sack the lot and ICAC em. Let em feel the pain of the disenfranchised victims they have created by wholesale theft . The opposite of a free market btw it is a cartel and feudalism. Fact
100% correct.
No chance the Minister will ever go and look at the places people with disabilities live! The fact that many young people with disabilities end up in aged care facilities is a disgrace.
Don’t worry Macquarie Bank is positioning itself as the provider of disability housing.
I wonder what could go wrong with that?
After all the crap puchinno’s on the Thames after Macquarie got the contract from Boris for Thames water.