All things being equal when you add profit
How to define equal should be the role of an elected government and it should change with public circumstances. At present, we don’t live in a democracy, we live in a capitalist society because the link between private and public is too blurred.
Consider the results of privatisation of our state-owned banks. Consider the topics of today (interest rates, public housing, bank closure, housing affordability etc). With a state-owned bank in the market place as a defacto regulator of credit card interest rates, housing loans and bank closures etc with public good as its mandate, the other banks would also have to consider the public good as well as profit or they would lose market share.
For many years that was a role public servants fulfilled. Many industrial reforms have been driven by the public service. Consider also the contribution made by the once great ABC. The first step would be enshrining in the constitution of these organisations (banking, public utilities, public service, Medicare, ABC, SBS, public housing, EPA, Land development, taxation etc ) legislation that required a referendum to be changed to ensure minimal political interference.
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