The Electrical Trades Union has today launched a major campaign ahead of the NSW election to defend public assets from privatisation, with an advertising blitz and targeted efforts in marginal seats highlighting skyrocketed prices and plummeting reliability following the partial sale of the state's electricity network.
The campaign will see the return of the union's high-profile "Stop the Sell Off" campaign from the 2015 election, highlighting the fact that electricity prices have soared to record levels as a result of the NSW Liberal-National Government's sale of a majority of Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy.
The union will be demanding firm commitments from political parties and candidates to not only rule out any further sale of electricity assets — including country electricity network operator Essential Energy which remains fully in public hands — along with pledges not to support the privatisation of NSW and Sydney Trains.
ETU Secretary Justin Page said the Liberals and Nationals had promised the people of NSW that power privatisation would lead to lower prices and better services, but the complete opposite has been true.
"Before the last election, we warned the people of NSW that once monopoly electricity assets were privatised, prices would go up, corners would be cut with maintenance, and blackouts would become more frequent," Mr Page said.
"Four years on, the evidence is in, and the people of NSW are now paying record energy bills while huge profits are funnelled into the pockets of the private owners.
"In recent weeks, we've seen major power outages caused by a lack of maintenance, with tens of thousands of people ensuring lengthy service interruptions because there are now fewer highly skilled staff available to carry out proactive repairs or restore power following blackouts.
"The message of this campaign is that power privatisation isn't a done deal — the NSW Government still owns all of Essential Energy and almost half of Ausgrid and Endeavour — so the way people vote next month will decide whether we restore some public control or see even more power handed over to corporate interests."
Mr Page said independent polling undertaken last week by Essential Research confirmed that power privatisation remained an important issue for NSW voters.
"This poll found that policies around the future ownership of public assets in NSW would influence the vote of 54 per cent of respondents," he said.
"Overall, it found 72 per cent of voters believe privatisation had contributed to higher power prices, while 56 per cent believe private energy companies are failing their responsibility to properly maintain the electricity network.
"When asked what should happen with the electricity network in future, 38 per cent wanted any further privatisation to be stopped while 44 per cent said the privately owned parts of the network should be returned to public ownership.
"Even among self-identified Liberal voters, just 19 per cent support further power privatisation.
"Our message to voters — particularly in the key marginal electorates that will decide who forms government in NSW — is that the future of our public assets remains at risk, that they can't be complacent, and the way they vote on March 23 will have serious implications for their power bills.
"This is no scare campaign, we know privatisation is in the Liberals DNA, and there is no question that a re-elected Berejiklian Government will be eyeing off the once-off financial hit that would come from a fire-sale of our remaining electricity network assets.
"In key marginal electorates, our members will be seeking firm pledges from candidates that they will not support any further privatisation of essential services, including electricity and rail.
"Where candidates refuse to make this commitment, we'll be working hard to inform the local community about their position, ensuring voters are informed about exactly what is at risk if those people are elected."
Information about the campaign, including the television commercial being launched today, can be found at: stoptheselloff.org.au
/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).
