This is what happens when the government (Labor or coalition) puts too much faith in the working of private enterprises, expecting them to do the right right.
When state assets are privatized, such as electricity or gas network, all it means is the government passes on to state monopoly to private enterprises and the latter usually will treat it as a right to print money, gouging electricity or gas users for whatever it is worth, and state governments in most instances have been unable to do much about that.
I like the idea of the Commonwealth government declaring a state of emergency Australia, and legislate to give state governments the power to take back ownership of these essential services.
