Market-led infrastructure may sound good but not if it short-changes the public

Crystal Legacy, Brendan Gleeson, Jago Dodson and John Stone

The privatisation of services in Australian cities has weakened public control of key infrastructure. This is likely to accelerate as governments look to market-led proposals to provide infrastructure.

For nearly three decades, the rationale for privatisation has been competition. Competition was expected to keep costs down, foster innovation and ensure the public interest was preserved.