Greens leader Adam Bandt addressed the National Press Club last week, calling for a number of sectors to be returned to Government hands – including aged care.

“Over the next year – in aged care, private health care, employment services, education, the public service and banking where we bankroll cheap lending for the big four ‘too big to fail’ banks – the public will be delivering private entities $52 billion to prop up their profits,” he said.

“It’s time to wind back privatisation. The Australian people hate it and it has been a demonstrated failure.”

Mr Bandt argued that selling public assets, deregulation and outsourcing services had left Australia “more unequal, less able to withstand shocks and teetering on the edge of civilisational collapse”.

“We will seek the Senate’s support for a wide-ranging inquiry into the failures of privatisation,” he said.

“Given the likely supportive views of the crossbench, we hope we can shame Labor into backing it so that it begins before the end of the year.”

Given the majority of aged care services are in the hands of Not For Profits and For Profits, Mr Bandt’s wish appears unlikely to come true.

But it shows there is wider support out there for the argument that providers shouldn’t be making profits.