I think perhaps what he was suggesting is that the whole exercise itself was a waste of money. When starting the review board, the government must have known that the main recommendation of the report would be privatization and that the government's response would be to reject that recommendation. I think that leaves us with two possibilities: either 1) the government knowingly wasted money knowing they would reject the report, or 2) the government actually believes that the current system is the best option and believed the report would confirm that.4) "Mr. Lacey said the panel spent more than $500,000 on the review. The fact that its finding will essentially be shelved prompted howls of protect from opposition members that the government has wasted taxpayers' money."
So because they spent money on it they must follow the recommendations for fear of ridicule? Are you sure this is how government should make their decisions? Who is this Mr. Lacey and how fast can he be fired?
I think that either case raises questions about the government's ability to protect the "public interest".