Neo liberal Failures, Covid 19 and Aged Care Deaths

Since the second wave of COVID 19 spread throughout Victoria, Australia, like a locust invasion, Neoliberalism, its economics and policies, have truly revealed themselves to be in the least inadequate, and at most, a national disgrace.

In the states of New South Wales and Victoria combined have approximately 4,000 deaths in Aged-Care facilities alone. This cannot be explained away with the standard retort that the elderly are more receptive to the virus. The majority of these deaths are a result of a privatized government-subsidized age care system.

Privatization has turned our social system toxic.

In a recent royal commission revealed many of the underlying problems in our aged care facilities. In the interim report detailed that all of the facilities are severely underfunded. This governmental neglect has resulted in "malnutrition, fatally untreated wounds, the undignified rationing of continence pads, and the cynically flagrant use of restraints and sedatives. The report continues, stating that the age-care, despite the weak pandemic responses, frequently find residence starved, stupefied, and were inadequately defended against the virus." This is a result of sustained political neglect.

Upon the release of these findings, the conservative government's response, as usual, glib and vague. We're "checking" into it, and perhaps "revising" certain standards. When confronted with hard-cold facts, this is typical of our conservative government – to smugly smile and respond with, "I do not agree with the premise of your question." A line our PM is notorious for saying when confronted with inconvenient truths.

In the late 1990s, the conservative John Howard government opened the floodgates to privatization. Through privatizing, opened the door to deregulation and profit-making in aged care at the expense of quality care, and most importantly, unaccountability.

Back in the days of the Jeff Kennet government in Victoria, the fog-horn-voiced-clown privatized/corporatized many public services, out-sourcing industries such as education and transportation, resulting in more money in the government coffers, but at the expense of quality, and in the case of aged-care, unneeded deaths.

What COVID 19 has unmasked, is by out-sourcing to private firms, like security companies, and government-subsidized aged care facilities, exposes a capitalist system shit-show of utter incompetence, and now, the thousands of deaths that would have been avoided. Without question, this is a national disgrace on a grand scale.

Another disgraceful reality as a result of neoliberal policies has been the creation of a mass casual workforce, including part-time and short-term employment. A gig economy has surfaced with zero benefits for the individual, and an unknown sustainable future for our young people.

When you include the massive educational cuts to TAFE, resulting in fewer apprenticeships across the board, the future does indeed look bleak for future generations.

When you have these buffoons in expensive suits, chanting the neoliberal mantra that "Private is Better," realize this is the rhetoric of all neoliberals: the system that only enhances the wealth of the few while strangling the many.

The political neglect of many industries, particularly the Aged Car, should be a national embarrassment to our current government. And will there be any collective accountability from this government, jettisoning disastrous neoliberal policies, returning to a more caring and sustainable Social Democracy?

Well, don't hold your breath. Because all you'll get from the current government is:

"I refuse to recognize the premise of your question." smiling smugly and turning away.