You can thank Margaret Thatcher for the gas supply crunch Australia’s east coast has been plunged into. As UK prime minister, Thatcher led the charge to kick the government out of the economy and allow the market to rule. In Australia, governments took up the idea with enthusiasm through deregulation and privatisation. But when the market fails, what happens? The state has to step in, again and again.
Putting the interests of citizens first requires state leadership over market rule. We saw this clearly yesterday when Australia’s national electricity market operator, AEMO, moved to suspend the wholesale electricity market. This radical move allowed the government entity to manage pricing and control of power plants and prevent rolling blackouts.
