Privatisation has failed. Australia needs to ditch the ‘incentives’ rhetoric and simply spend money on things we need

Electricity poles in Melbourne. ‘There has never been any strong economic evidence that privatisation delivers benefits to budgets.’ Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Daniel Andrews’s plan to re-establish a publicly owned state electricity commission is not just proof that privatisation has failed, it’s proof that the politics of privatisation have failed.

It is no accident that the Victorian premier is using a brand name from the past for his investment in the energy generation of the future. And it is no surprise that he is focussing on public provision of an essential service during an election campaign. The Australian public never liked privatisation as much as their political class.