澳大利亚全国竞争政策的重点之一就是把国家所有的企业也置于公平竞争之下。这一政策促进了经济的活跃发展,也引起了社会的变化。澳广金融节目主持人巴里克拉克对此作了解释:
As we try to increase competition, albeit imperfectly, and we embrace the market system, we're changing the way society functions. In other words, we are reducing the size of the public sector and increasing the size of the private sector.
克拉克说,在我们试图增加竞争时,尽管是不完全的竞争,我们就接受了市场机制,改变着社会运转的方式。换句话说,我们缩小了公营机构的规模,扩大了私有企业的规模。
Historically, when the government provided utilities to us, the relationship that existed was between citizen and government. However, as we take these utilities out of the public sector and into the private sector, then the relationship changes - we become consumers interacting with the market.
从历史上来说,当政府为我们提供公用设施时,那种关系是公民与政府之间的关系。但是,当把这些公用设施从公营转为私营之后,这种关系也随之变化,我们变成了消费者,与市场相互发生影响。
And as we move from the role of citizen to consumer we lose rights to question the way these essential utilities operate in our society.
随着我们从公民的角色转变成为消费者,我们就失去了对这些基本设施在我们社会中运营方式提出质询的权利。
When they were public institutions we had the right under Freedom of Information legislation to find out what was going on. That kind of information is denied to us in the private sector because of commercial sensitivity.
当这些公用设施属于公营机构时,根据信息自由立法,我们有权知道这些机构运营的情况。但是私营企业会由于商业的敏感性而拒绝透露这些情况。
巴里克拉克在谈话中提到这样几个词:
1. public sector 公营机构,政府资助或控制的企业
2. private sector 私营企业
3. essential utilities 基本公用设施,如煤气水电等
4. commercial sensitivity 商业敏感性
下面我们再听一遍澳广金融节目主持人克拉克讲话的全文。(略)
在结束这一讲之前,我们再复习一下今天涉及的一些英文词汇:
1. integration 结合,整体
2. globalisation 全球化
3. standard of living 生活标准,生活水平
4. public sector 公营机构,政府资助或控制的企业
5. private sector 私营企业
6. essential utilities 基本公用设施,如煤气水电等
7. commercial sensitivity 商业敏感性
这次由澳洲广播电台中文部为您制作的金融世界节目到这里就结束了,谢谢您的收听。