Outsourcing the public service is not the answer

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Ross Gittins is right on the money (Comment, 31/5) to highlight the obsession with outsourcing government functions at a federal level. The cost to the taxpayer of this expensive exercise in political philosophy is unacceptably high and fiscally unwise. Any outsourced service has built into the price a profit margin for the provider, while the core cost of the service will not be lower than that provided by an efficient public service. Previous Coalition governments have failed us in this regard. At both federal and state level, privatisation of government functions and services has consistently been shown to be a fiscal failure to Australia.
The challenge for the Albanese government is to not just recognise past failings, but to set about rectifying the processes that have allowed this fiscal waste and re-establish the primacy of a cost-efficient Commonwealth Public Service.
Brian Kidd, Mt Waverley

Look into other groups’ behaviour
It would be a shame if the current focus on PwC’s unethical behaviour, previously highlighted in The Age and now subject to Senate hearings, precludes investigation of the behaviour of the other major beneficiaries of government consultancies. Like PwC, they are large corporations established to maximise their profit. Is there any reason to think they are operating more ethically?
And is PwC really sorry for what it has done, or just sorry it was caught?
Jenny Macmillan, Clifton Hill

Internal problems need fixing, too
I have been greatly heartened by goals being widely expressed in the context of the PwC scandal: a need for a return to a frank and fearless, merit-based public service; a diminished role for politically appointed ministerial advisers; and the reduced use of external consultants. However, if these things are to happen there is a flipside for which compromise will be required and which may have had some influence on the trends we now seek to reverse. The task of remediating the situation of an underperforming, ongoing public servant has been mountainous. Public service managers generally won’t take this task on, and in the rare cases that they do, they as often as not come off second best.
Dan Meehan, Thornbury

Sadly, nothing will change
Ross Gittins (Comment, 31/5) details the ultimate follies and costs of outsourcing the functions of the public service. Yet there seems little inclination by government to stop. The short-term artificial financial gain seems hypnotic. The total silence of the federal opposition on the PwC scandal is telling and the timid response of the government has been limited to being upset but no obvious action. Sadly, nothing will change.
Ross Hudson, Mount Martha

Saying sorry isn’t enough
An apology is not sufficient. As a punitive measure, PwC must pay back all the money it earned to develop the tax laws, plus a penalty equal to five times the money it earned under the contracts.
Roger Christiansz, Wheelers Hill

Without vision, things will worsen
At a time when Australia urgently needs a review and reset of the TAFE system so it can help keep us all happily and productively employed, federal governments continue to engage PwC and their ilk in decision-making and the operation of technical and further education. In the absence of vision and firm ministerial leadership, PwC etc will continue their missions of denigrating and fragmenting our public service, the better to grow their investors’ returns, and steadily reduce government roles to contract purchasing.
Neil Hauxwell, Moe

FORUM

Enacting a statue
When I grew up in the ’70s, most of the girls I knew wanted to be princesses. Not me. I wanted to be Zelda D’Aprano (″⁣Paying tribute to wage equality pioneer″⁣, 31/5). Tough, fair-minded and courageous. Can’t wait to catch a tram to see her statue and have a beer.
Enisa Birdahic, Reservoir

It starts with one
The new Melbourne monument to Zelda D’Aprano, pioneer activist for equal pay for women, provides valuable encouragement for anyone currently involved in causes where only public activism will bring progress.
It may seem ridiculous and lacking in any real possibility of achieving change to chain yourself to a set of public doors holding a poster saying, ″⁣No more male and female rates,″⁣ or, in response to treatment of women in parliament, to join a capital cities women’s march organised last minute during a pandemic. But history’s lesson seems to be that all causes which do eventually achieve the outcomes sought begin with individuals undertaking oddball action.
Ruth Farr,
Blackburn South

Capital punishment
I’ve always said, when asked my opinion, that if you take the harbour and seaside suburbs out of Sydney you are left with one massive congested dump. Similarly, if you take the lake and parliamentary triangle out of Canberra, you are left with a slightly lesser massive congested dump.
I don’t think similar can be said about any of the other capital cities.
Graham Bridge, Morwell

Pay your fare
I agree with your correspondent’s assessment of the superior quality of Sydney’s public transport system (Letters, 31/5). An important feature of it is that in Sydney public transit users actually pay for their fares, whereas in Melbourne, as many bus drivers will tell you, at least 50per cent of patrons evade their fares and even think paying them is optional.
When will the Andrews government get serious about all public transport customers actually paying for their rides? Isn’t it time for badly needed state revenue to be collected?
Henk van Leeuwen,
Elwood

Profits over care
I have just received advice that the level 3 aged care package my wife receives has risen by $11.43 a day, or 11.87 per cent. Included in the letter were our new provider rises, which increase hourly rates (min. two hours) from $56.50 an hour to $65.25 an hour or a 15.48 per cent increase. Never let the government’s largesse get in the way of increasing profits.
Name and address supplied

Leave market alone
I don’t know for certain what’s planned with Preston market, but I have been using the market regularly for about 20 years now and I say, don’t change it, please. Developers have a way of destroying the good and replacing it with glitzy new.
Please don’t turn it into a version of Northland, or worse like Epping Plaza.
Lesley Taskis, Kingsbury

School funding
Your correspondent (Letters, 31/5) laments the flow-on effect of elite private schools now being asked to contribute payroll tax.
As a teacher in a public school for more than 30 years, I have seen first-hand, the flow-on effect of chronic underfunding, under-resourcing and the marginalisation of public schools for decades.
Perhaps with a fairer funding model, all public schools could offer the subject selection and facilities that parents desire for their children.
Craig Jory, Albury, NSW

It’s a bit rich
So the Liberals think that private schools perform a service so should not be subject to payroll tax, but public schools, which perform the exact same service, should be? Welfare for the wealthy?
Malcolm Fraser, Oakleigh South

Not a charity
As a retired state secondary school teacher I am very happy to see the state government expecting some private schools to contribute to the state revenue. These schools are managed as businesses and, therefore, should contribute to tax revenue as a business. These schools are not charitable institutions and it is time this was acknowledged through the tax system.
If some parents feel they will not be able to afford these prestigious schools, then there is a state-funded school available to them.
Susan Kelly, Highton

Change for the good
Finally, a government being courageous and bold. About 110 of the state’s highest-fee-charging non-government schools will have their payroll tax exemption dropped.
The change will bring affected non-government schools into line with the government school sector. The budget papers say the change will affect roughly the 15per cent of schools that have the most expensive fees.
It is to be hoped this loss of money will not affect parents who send their children to private schools. Instead, they should limit their plans to build huge underground parking facilities, equestrian centres, huge aquatic and gymnasium facilities.
Non-government schools increased their fees this year by between 4 and 10 per cent – the biggest rise in five years – following COVID-related fee freezes. Twenty-three schools charge more than $35,000 a year at senior year levels.
Surely this change will go some way to creating a fairer society for our Victorian students.
Val Renison, Mt Eliza

Trolls everywhere
Your correspondent’s experience (Letters, 31/5) about a troll who sent insults via Australia Post has something in common with my own experience.
I have certainly received letters in the mail, but the most memorable trolling occurred on my landline answering machine.
The caller spent several minutes abusing me at the end of which he left what he said was his phone number (I didn’t check) in case I wanted to ″⁣discuss things further″⁣.
Strangely, I didn’t.
Juliet Flesch, Kew

Accept Israel
Your correspondent (Letters, 31/5) fails to consider the Palestinian rejection of all Israeli two-state peace offers. There are also many other obstacles to overcome regarding the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Most concerning is the split and hatred between the Palestinian leadership of Fatah and Hamas, and the increasingly fragmented nature of Palestinian politics. In other words, who is going to run this state?
So when is the right time to recognise a Palestinian state? When the Palestinian leadership behaves democratically, rejects terrorism, and accepts the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.
Annette Gladwin, Bentleigh

Palestine realities
Your correspondent’s advice for Australia to just go ahead and recognise a Palestinian state buried former Israeli deputy speaker Naomi Chazan’s cogent reasons not to.
As Ms Chazan noted, Palestinian politics is “undergoing its own upheaval” with long-time Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “in poor health”, so doing so “would only inflame tensions further″⁣.
Another obvious point not mentioned is that Palestinian politics is hopelessly and literally divided.
Since Hamas usurped control over Gaza from the authority in 2007, Abbas’ rule extends only to the West Bank. Moreover, Australia has proscribed Hamas as a terror organisation for its policy of indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets into Israel and calls for Israel’s destruction.
I doubt most Australians would be comfortable with our government extending recognition to “Palestine” given these realities. Instead, this should wait until a real Palestinian state is established under a peace deal with Israel.
Danny Samuels, Malvern

Wrong section
I’m at a loss as to why an American TV drama series was given a two-page spread in the news section of The Age. It would have been more appropriate in Green Guide.
Greg Bardin, Altona North

Shooters, picture this
I, and many of my friends, regularly shoot birds. We do it all year round and do not limit our activities to ducks – any birds will do. We enjoy many of the benefits that duck hunters claim (although without the meat) because we use cameras.
Dave Torr, Werribee

Lack of foresight
Your correspondent is correct about Norway’s electrification program being built on the back of North Sea oil (Letters, 30/5) However, rather than criticising Norway’s “hypocrisy”, maybe we should be lamenting our own government’s lack of foresight. Where might we be now if we’d followed Norway’s lead decades ago by taxing our resource exports appropriately and ploughing the royalties into a similar sovereign wealth fund?
Brian Collins, Cardigan

Aspiring to less
I can’t help thinking that ″⁣aspirational″⁣ needs to be redefined as aspiring to use less rather than more of the planet’s finite resources.
Jim Spithill, Glen Waverley

Dub the dak-dak
The idea to convert a Volkswagen to electric is commendable. Many historic vehicles should not disappear from our roads. However, a silent VW doesn’t seem quite right. For the safety of pedestrians and cyclists and the amusement of outdoor coffee drinkers a loud dak-dak soundtrack should be included in the EV build.
Michael O’Brien, Buffalo River

AND ANOTHER THING

AI
Can scientists quantify whether the risk of human extinction is greater from AI or human intelligence?
Joan Segrave, Healesville

BBC news commentator: ″⁣Many experts say AI risks global extinction, so … should we be concerned?” The art of the understatement.
Sean Geary, Southbank

Without AI, there is already enough human error and misinformation that could lead to human extinction.
Malcolm McDonald, Burwood

Schools
Do I care about the wealthy private schools having to find the dollars for their payroll tax? No.
Marg Pekin, Thornbury

Never get between Liberal politicians and their old school ties (“Liberals vow to axe school tax hike”, 31/5).
Phil Alexander, Eltham

Sydney v Melbourne: Sydney averages 2628 hours of sunshine a year. Melbourne averages 2373. I rest my case.
Shaun Lawrence, Richmond

AFL
Typical AFL – move on, nothing to see here.
Damian Meade, Leopold

Re the AFL inquiry, the ultimate whitewash.
Randall Bradshaw, Fitzroy

For all us Carlton supporters, it’s Groundhog Day.
Paul Jurkovsky, Ferntree Gully

Furthermore
Powerful people in suits saying sorry doesn’t cut it for me (″⁣Betrayal of trust″⁣, 31/5 ).
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill

I hope that’s the last photo I see in The Age of a hunter standing over dead, defenceless ducks.
Shirley Purves, Gisborne

Vladimir Putin has labelled the drone attacks on Moscow ″⁣a terrorist act″⁣. You can’t have any more gall than that.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

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