History shows us that rorting is rife when governments fund the private sector to deliver a public good. Outsourcing public services to the private sector is central to neoliberal economics. The idea is that the private sector operates more efficiently and cheaply than governments. However, rather than operate within a genuine free market, child care, aged care and vocational education providers have developed business models based on government subsidies. Dishonest providers are often able to outsmart apathetic government bureaucrats. It was ever thus.
First published in The Age 17 March 2026
