Submissions to the People's Inquiry have now closed.
Thanks to everyone who made a submission. We have received hundreds of submissions from individuals and organisations, and are currently working on analysing the submissions to produce a final report for the inquiry, to be released early 2017.
It’s about time that such services are once again recognised for the real contribution that they make to the livability of our society. Just a few examples: child-rearing; caring for pre-school / disabled / elderly family members or neighbours; belonging to a local cultural group of some kind (eg visual arts, performing arts, local history, climate action, bush care, community education).
And this doesn’t include the various kinds of extra-curricular work done by professional people on a voluntary or cost-compensation basis), eg legal aid, literacy tutoring.
Or the mind-numbing (and even soul-destroying) work done by extremely low-paid workers, eg doing piece -work for the fashion industry; culling just-born male chickens, debeaking laying hens, and slaughtering and butchering animals for the the ‘food’ industry; maintaining local tips containing our excess waste; etc etc.
Money is NOT the most appropriate way to value all these jobs. People deserve to have work that is paid a living wage, but they also deserve jobs that are recognised as essential and valuable by other members of the community. Too many people who demonise ‘unemployed’ people would never be willing to do the kinds of jobs they expect others to do in abysmal working conditions and without being paid enough to support themselves or their families without getting any government assistance.
The only way to be sure that our societies are worth living in is for the government to provide properly paid and meaningful work for all those of working age, and give appropriate tax concessions only to those people who contribute to the community as a whole by doing essential and valuable voluntary work outside their fully recompensed employment.
Idealistic? I don’t think so. The neoliberal ‘trickle-down’ philosophy hasn’t worked for the vast majority of people on Earth since the 1980s, and particularly since the GFC. There is no justification for a very few people living off their accumulated wealth while more and more people rely on government assistance through no fault of their own.
Every Utility that has been Privatised has become more expensive because Corporations are obliged to satisfy their investors, NOT their customers. Privatising our Public Services will become too expensive for people on low incomes and the Government will not meet the shortfall. What is the point of a Government if it is not able to provide Public Services? Please look to the Scandinavian models of Government rather than the US or UK models where the disparity between Rich and Poor is increasing. This current Government is fostering Misery, Neglect and Poverty instead of Hope and Prosperity for the future.
Every Utility that has been Privatised has become more expensive because Corporations are obliged to satisfy their investors, NOT their customers. Privatising our Public Services will become too expensive for people on low incomes and the Government will not meet the shortfall. What is the point of a Government if it is not able to provide Public Services? Please look to the Scandinavian models of Government rather than the US or UK models where the disparity between Rich and Poor is increasing. This current Government is fostering Misery, Neglect and Poverty instead of Hope and Prosperity for the future.
Every Utility that has been Privatised has become more expensive because Corporations are obliged to satisfy their investors, NOT their customers. Privatising our Public Services will become too expensive for people on low incomes and the Government will not meet the shortfall. What is the point of a Government if it is not able to provide Public Services? Please look to the Scandinavian models of Government rather than the US or UK models where the disparity between Rich and Poor is increasing. This current Government is fostering Misery, Neglect and Poverty instead of Hope and Prosperity for the future.
Every Utility that has been Privatised has become more expensive because Corporations are obliged to satisfy their investors, NOT their customers. Privatising our Public Services will become too expensive for people on low incomes and the Government will not meet the shortfall. What is the point of a Government if it is not able to provide Public Services? Please look to the Scandinavian models of Government rather than the US or UK models where the disparity between Rich and Poor is increasing. This current Government is fostering Misery, Neglect and Poverty instead of Hope and Prosperity for the future.
Monetary interest will always influence privatisation, as does corruption of government subsidies to these private institutions. It is in their interests to rort the system.
Health care for all is an undeniable right for our country, as we pay the taxes.
Lift the Medicare ceiling; don’t make it concrete and permanent.
Education, Health, Security, Law, Sanitation and our environment are all aspects of Australia we cannot afford to lose to the highest bidder.
Morever private companies increase charges straight away and services for people on low incomes quickly become unaffordable. When electricity was privatised the government had to step in and impose fines and penalties on the company in order to ensure availability of supply to customers. We have been paying the highest electricity prices in the nation. Privatisation of health services would be very concerning as it affects peoples’ lives. The matter of life and death should not have to depend on the size of your wallet. Outsourcing services to private companies often involves sending australian jobs offshore which would increase our unemployment rate. Hardly a menu for jobs and growth of our economy.
Once all of our public assets are sold there is no turning back. Why does the government feel it necessary to “sell off the farm”?
Morever private companies increase charges straight away and services for people on low incomes quickly become unaffordable. When electricity was privatised the government had to step in and impose fines and penalties on the company in order to ensure availability of supply to customers. We have been paying the highest electricity prices in the nation. Privatisation of health services would be very concerning as it affects peoples’ lives. The matter of life and death should not have to depend on the size of your wallet. Outsourcing services to private companies often involves sending australian jobs offshore which would increase our unemployment rate. Hardly a menu for jobs and growth of our economy.
Once all of our public assets are sold there is no turning back. Why does the government feel it necessary to “sell off the farm”?
It has been demonstrated in other countries that have privatised health care that the level of services and care drops in the grab for profits. The costs also dramatically increase for operations, tests, therapy and everything related to medical care. You do not have to look further than the USA as an example—and a BAD example at that. We in Australia do not want nor need that kind of system.
I rely completely on bulk billing for my medical needs and the PBS for my medicines. I rely on free blood and other medical tests and doctor visits for my regular health checks. There are times I go to the doctor without a cent, as I often go for days on end with no money at all, which is not a unique situation, but is sadly the norm for too many of us.
Privatisation benefits the few at the expense of the many, and the government should remember that it’s the many who employ them—and can sack them at elections—not the few. Do not privatise healthcare.
I have also had the misfortune to be a patient in a private healthcare facility where I had to discharge myself prematurely due to deliberate short staffing effectively causing acute discomfort and distress to myself after fairly major surgery.
Despite the fact that I pay private healthcare insurance now, I would be insistent, in emergency, upon being taken to any public hospital for treatment.
Profit making schemes have no place in healthcare.
Say NO to privatisation.
Our system works but it has been starved of funds by successive governments. We the people are prepared to pay higher taxes to protect our health system as it stands and was designed to be, but also education. Say NO to privatization.