>>I don't think that it has anything to with ethics.
>>Private industry pays a lot more and, like it or not, money is a key motivator.

I perceive a vicious circle: why does private industry pay more when it claims to be more efficient? Who does it benefit for government departments to pay peanuts to get monkeys who get rings run around them?

That's one of the arguments for converting or establishing public utilities as publicly owned entities run as proper businesses by administrators and staff who are incentivized in the usual fashion immune from undue political interference. I've seen banks, postal services, water and sewage utilities, port and airport companies, even national airlines handled that way. Most seem to do well- and having a government shareholder can be a positive for a change. ;-)