This sounds like my kind of incompetent government. Canberra will be expanding detention centres across Australia and British firm Serco will be getting more money in the process. And yet there may be some practical problems: NT Police Association president Vince Kelly told AAP he understood that Serco, the private security company that manages Australia’s…
Showing all posts tagged privatisation
Perhaps Serco should just privatise our dreams
The role of Serco in Western Australia (largely ignored in the east of the country) is likely to increase. Problems with the company? Open to abuse? Who cares, if there’s a buck to be made? Here’s the West Australian: A prisoner rights group says the State Government’s plan to privatise parole services would make the…
Murder civilians and continue getting mercenary work
The future of warfare: The number of private security personnel working for the US military in Afghanistan rose to 18,919 at the end of last year, the highest level used in any conflict by the United States, a congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service report said that the number of private security contractor personnel…
Serco pays a small fine in Australia but contract with Canberra only deepens
My source tells me that Serco is paying this fine – how nice of the Australian government to try and teach Serco a lesson this way rather than actually improving human rights for the asylum seekers in prison – for 2010 failures towards refugees as well as escapes: The immigration department has fined the company…
Would you trust an arms dealer with your personal information?
Neither would I: The UK Census 2011 is being held on March 27, and everyone is expected to have their details recorded and sent back to the government for processing. Except it won’t, because it is not the job of the government to do the processing – and that is the key to why I…
Making sure Serco doesn’t soon run every aspect of Australian life
I’m still in Perth, Western Australia and I spent some time this afternoon with activists and union leaders discussing the state government’s move towards further privatisation of public services. This is an Australian-wide problem and a global issue. Campaigns are growing here against the imposition of Serco in many areas of life. A piece in…
Democracy and Middle East problems sorted at Perth Writer’s Festival
As if. But it’s been a wonderful few days here in sunny and very warm Perth. My first session yesterday was alongside philosopher Raimond Gaita on Gaza: Zionism and Anti-Zionism. Rai outlined his belief that a two-state solution was the best and most just way to resolve the Middle East crisis and didn’t accept my…
Drugging at Gitmo clear way to liberate Muslims
Don’t you get the feeling that we’ll be reading these kinds of stories for years as it becomes clear Washington treated terror suspects little better than stray dogs? The Defense Department has claimed it took the unprecedented step of forcing all “war on terror” detainees sent to Guantanamo in 2002 to take a high dosage…
Public fight against Serco continues
And it’s just beginning: The union representing hospital workers has defended its decision to bring traffic in Perth’s CBD to a standstill over a dispute about the privatisation of some hospital services. The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union is fighting the State Government’s plans to contract out some services at public hospitals to private companies.…
Privatisation is a game the whole political and media elite can play
With the New South Wales election less than a month away and news that Serco is offering “advice” on the best way to privatise everything, Murdoch’s Australian today explains what may happen post 26 March. And note how conservatives use the word “reform” when they really mean sack public workers for “efficiency”: NSW Liberals leader…