From Public to Private: The Australian Experience of Privatisation

This article traces the development of privatisation as a key strategy in public sector reform in Australia, as used to some degree or other by parties of both the left and right. The article identifies the shift from a more pragmatic approach adopted by Labor as one element of its micro-economic reform program, to a more ideologically driven approach used by successive Liberal Coalition governments. It identifies the range of privatisation utilised by both parties and concludes that there has been some convergence in approaches. The results have significantly modified the nature of the Australian state and the way it delivers its public services. With a new government of the left elected in November 2007, it remains to be seen whether or not this trajectory will continue.