Essential Infrastructure Belongs in Public Hands (Malcolm Roberts)

Critical infrastructure like water and power grids shouldn't be privatised. Because Australia's size prevents duplicate systems, private ownership creates unchecked monopolies, soaring prices, and poor maintenance — as past water privatisation failures in SA and WA proved.

While free markets drive efficiency through consumer choice, natural monopolies do the opposite. The better solution? State-owned critical infrastructure kept accountable through Competitive Federalism, where citizens can move freely between states, turning governance into a marketplace that rewards efficiency.



The key aim here is to lower the cost of living. Lower water and electricity prices.

Senator Roberts is entirely correct about the problem with the present system. There's no space, when it comes to basic infrastructure, to have a competing system to drive down prices. What's happened with privatisation is that different companies now own different parts of the existing monopolised system and take profits at every step downstream that drives up prices. The entire system needs to be bought back and put in public hands.

His idea of having competition, via the price differential afforded in different States, is the right way to go.

To set things straight the public in Australia needs to vote for One Nation, and also for People First that has the same idea. The other major parties are so compromised that they would never agree to such a sensible plan that will actually help the poorest people in society, and help vital businesses.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, October 16, 2026.]