Australia
The People’s Inquiry Into Privatization, launched by Public Services International as a joint initiative with many Australian unions including CPSU, CPSU-SPSF, NSWNMA, ASU and ETU, in partnership Per Capita, Action Aid Australia and the ACTU, has begun with public hearings all over Australia. The inquiry will conclude in Canberra on 27 October.
“The Turnbull Government has directed the Productivity Commission to conduct an inquiry into how to further privatize our public services, without looking at whether handing over control of our services to corporations is in the best interests of all Australians. But we think communities should have a say over how our services are run, and for whose benefit. That's why we've initiated the People's Inquiry into Privatization.We want to start a national conversation about the impacts of privatization, and talk directly with communities about the services they need.”
Australia
The West Australian’s federal political editor Andrew Probyn has won the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery journalist of the year award for his “series of stories about the Turnbull government’s plans to privatize the payments system for Medicare. The original story in February revealed that planning was well underway to outsource government payments for Medicare, pharmaceutical and aged-care benefits. Labor successfully capitalised on the outsourcing story to run a wider campaign to warn of changes to Medicare under a Coalition government, leading to the term ‘Mediscare.’”
Australia
Municipal IT contracting requires care and diligence, and can be a risky business. A forensic audit found that Liverpool Council may have been exposed to credit risk, poor value for money and reputational risk by a move to outsource some services to a private company. “The contract outsources some customer and management services, and Mr. Wulff, who oversaw a similar contract while working at Queensland's Ipswich council in 2007, said the move would improve the quality of service delivered to the community. However, an independent audit by Prosperity Audit Services obtained by the ABC has now revealed a number of limitations within the contract that may have left the council vulnerable. "Based on our investigation, it appears that a number of shortcomings may have exposed LCC (Liverpool City Council) to certain preventable risks," the report reads.”
India
As part of a nationwide strike for labor rights, “activists of various trade unions staged a protest in the town [of Gubbi]. Addressing the protesters, CITU taluk president Ajjappa said, The Centre and the state should take measures to safeguard the interests of the farmers and labourers. He pressed the Centre not to privatize the public sector units. Similar such protests were witnessed at other taluk centres in the district.”
India
Kolhapur Municipal Transport (KMT) will outsource washing and painting of its buses and repairing cushions, but deny that this is privatization. “The decision of outsourcing has been taken after several rounds of discussions with the transport committee and officials.”
Malaysia
As Johor state faces a water crisis, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar says the biggest mistake Johor ever made was to privatize the Syarikat Air Johor water company. The problem is a loss of control by the public, overpricing and distribution. “The ruler said there were industries in Pasir Gudang which consumed a lot of water, amounting to nearly RM4 million of water a month. ‘They get water, but the housing estate next door has no water. How do the people feel (about this)? You can't simply transfer water from one river to another.’”
New Zealand
A national Day of Action affirms the democratic rights of New Zealanders and supports initiatives to build a fairer and more sustainable society. The movement behind it is supported by civil society organizations, including NZ Council of Trade Unions (CTU), Public Services Association (PSA), FIRST Union, Greenpeace, 350.org, Oxfam New Zealand, SAFE for Animals and It's Our Future. Barry Coates, national coordinator of It's Our Future and the Day of Action, says “the government is allowing tax advantages for multinationals and the wealthy, and planning to privatize social services. They are ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which would give new rights to foreign corporations to sue our government over democratically-agreed laws and policies, and override the Tiriti rights.”
Pakistan
Privatization is gaining ground in the provincial government of Punjab, as “the provincial government is increasingly transferring its functions and those of local governments to newly-created limited companies. (…) The financial rules and regulations that govern the normal government departments do not apply to these companies though they are dealing with public funds worth tens of billions of rupees.”
Philippines
The government is planning to privatize the operations of government-owned and -controlled corporations by stripping them of commercial functions, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has said. “Dominguez said the government was looking at splitting the commercial and regulatory functions of several GOCCs, including the National Food Authority, and continue the privatization of government’s power assets handled by Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. ‘We will continue the privatization program, particularly in PSALM where the [energy] assets are. So we’re also making a big push in privatization,’ Dominguez told reporters at the sidelines of the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee hearing at the House of Representatives.
