It's time to rethink socialist principles amid the ruins of neoliberalism

April 11, 2025

Most of the social problems we now face in this country have slowly evolved since the rise of neoliberalism. I say slowly evolved because neoliberalism has profited by leaching the fat from government-built projects of the past e.g the PMG, Telstra and the NBN. How many times can one government-built institution be sold off? (I’m told the retrieval of the copper PMG network is still profitable) How many times can these privatised companies come back with their hands out to fix no reception black spots?

In South Australia, the them LNP premier bought a variety of electricity supply companies which were in government hands largely because regional South Australia couldn’t get reliable electricity supplies from small local generators. Then they were sold off and now once again we are talking about how to fund power stations and power distribution, and renewables and nuclear are a smokescreen in the discussion. The real discussion is why the private owners aren’t funding these projects. Under neoliberalism, they should be .

What we have is a hybrid neoliberalism where the government funds infrastructure and the capitalists profit until the inevitable upgrade is required. Then the government has to step in again.

Take a long look at the Whyalla story and its history in South Australia. Who built what, who really profited? We are now in the “it can’t afford to fail” government handout phase .

Then look into the stories around social housing in South Australia, namely the housing trust ,

We don’t have toll roads in South Australia, but across the border I’m told people have apps to avoid the tolls and the $300+ per month tolls. In South Australia, we no longer have a higways department, but we can’t get a road built and, when we do, the talk is all about debt.

Then there is the health/hospital system where the poor line up to be triaged and the better-off get same day service, although that too is becoming a thing of the past. This is a sign that another federal bailout is on the cards, while ambulances ramping is a nightly occurrence.

Neoliberalism may work in other countries (I doubt it), but it is a failure in Australia. This country has a big land mass and a small population. The system of neoliberalism and no taxes has failed miserably.

We need a better system.