Showing posts with label privatisation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label privatisation. Show all posts

Tuesday 19 June 2018

OUR ABC: Will voters be foolish enough to believe Turnbull Government protestations of innocence?


The Liberal Party of Australia Federal Council comprises 14 delegates from each State and the ACT - the State / Territory President, the State / Territory Parliamentary Leader, the President of the Young Liberal Movement, the President / Chairman of the Women’s Council and 10 other delegates.


More than 100 Liberal Party MPs, senators and party members were in Sydney on 16 June 2018 for the party’s 60th annual federal council which is expected to be the last one before the next federal election.

Here are some of the smiling faces at the event readers might recognise.

Twitter: A bevy of Liberal ministers: Sen. Mitch Fifield, Sen. Mathias Cormann, Julie Bishop MP & Malcolm Turnbull MP

The Young Liberals put forward the motionThat federal council calls for the full privatisation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, except for services into regional areas that are not commercially viable” and on a more than 2 to 1 show of hands the council voted in favour this motion.

Fairfax media snapshot of ABC privatisation vote

Council delegate Mitchell Collier, federal vice president of the Young Liberals, asserted there was no economic case to keep the broadcaster in public hands.


At the end of the motion debate Mitch Fifield reluctantly got to his feet at the urging of the Chair to offer “comments and observations” but did not condemn the idea of privatisation or oppose the motion outright.

As the vote was on a show of hands only with no official count taken there is no record of how Fifield voted.

Four members of the party’s federal executive voted in favour of the call for privatisation -  Federal Liberal vice-presidents Karina Okotel and Trish Worth, Young Liberal president Josh Manuatu and vice president Mitchell Collier who moved the motion. Incoming Federal Liberal vice-president NSW member Teena McQueen also voted for privatisation.

The federal council also voted in favour of an efficiency review of the SBS network.

After the vote became public two Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) members made statements to the media.

RMIT University professor and IPA Senior Research Fellow Sinclair Davidson said privatisation of the ABC should be the “default” Coalition policy as the Liberals were the party of small government which supported private enterprise.

He also told Sky News that ‘Selling the ABC to Gina Rinehart would be magnificent’

IPA research fellow Chris Berg said the preferred option would be for ownership to be transferred to ABC staff or Australian taxpayers.

The Australian Minister for Communications and yet another IPA member, Senator Mitch Fifield, who has previously stated that there is “merit in the proposal to privatise the ABC is currently trying to hose down alarm in the national electorate over that federal council vote.

His claims that the Turnbull Government supports the Australian public broadcaster and denies it has any intention of selling off the ABC.

Given past behaviour of the Abbott and Turnbull governments, the belligerence displayed towards the ABC and the stable from which Fifield comes, I don’t believe a word of his denial.

Just as the Prime Minister's denial is not one on which I would depend.

Thursday 24 May 2018

Sometimes it is hard to believe how bone-achingly stupid governments can be…… Part Two



This was an example of Smart and Skilled/VET at work in 2016…….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 September 2016:

The NSW government has given tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to help train staff at private corporations including global giant McDonalds.

A freedom of information request by the NSW Greens reveals the state government has awarded Mcdonald's Australia $1,809,485 in funding for vocational education and training.

In the second quarter of 2016 McDonald's reported net income of $1.09 billion, or $1.25 per share, on sales of$6.26 billion.

This was Smart and Skilled/VET-HELP on a national level in 2017……
via @TAFEeducation


According to the Commonwealh Ombudsman, between 1 July 2017 and 31 March 2018 there were 5,193 VET loan assistance complaints lodged by students, many of whom had discovered they had been signed up to a student loan without their knowledge or discovered that the loan amount is larger than they expected.

Wednesday 9 August 2017

This is what privatisation did to Australia's household electricity bills


When three eastern and one southern state formed the National Electricity Market in December 1998 Australia had the lowest retail prices in the world along with the United States and Canada.

The rules which underpin this National Electricity Market are created by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) set up by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) - through the COAG Energy Council - for that purpose and to advise federal & state governments on how best to develop energy markets over time.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) sets the amount of revenue that network businesses can recover from customers for using networks (electricity poles and wires and gas pipelines) that transport energy.

So far so good. There's a defined market and there are rules.

Then the privatisation of electricity supply and infrastructure began in earnest.

It should come as no surprise that this push towards full privatisation, with its downhill spiral in service delivery and uphill climb in cost to retail customers, began and was progressed during the term of Liberal Prime Minister John Howard.

By 2017 the NSW Berejiklian Coalition Government has almost completed its three-stage privatisation of state power infrastructure by selling off poles and wires and, it goes without saying that the retail cost of electricity is expected to rise again next year.

This is where we stand today……………………

[Graphs in Financial Review, 4 August 2017]
The Financial Review, 4 Augut 2017:

The annual cost to households of accepting a standing offer from one of the big three retailers instead of the best offer in the market has been estimated at $830 in Victoria, $900 in Queensland and $1400-$1500 in NSW and SA by the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Mr Mountain said power bills are constructed in such a complex way that ordinary customers without sophisticated spreadsheet and analytical skills have little hope of analysing competing offers to work out which offers them the best deal.

Private comparison websites do not include all market offers and charge retailers for switching customers, while the websites offered by the Australian Energy Regulator and the Victorian government do not provide the tools customers need to discriminate among offers.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ordered the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to conduct an inquiry into electricity supply, costs and pricing, including retail pricing.

The Treasurer should have a preliminary report from the ACCC in his hands by the end of September this year, however this body does not submit a final report until 30 June 2018 with no guarantee that any recommendations will be adopted by government and industry.

Quite frankly, it appears the privatisation train left the platform some time ago and there is no way to halt or divert it in order to genuinely benefit household consumers.

Sunday 19 March 2017

Are there plans afoot to sell off part or all of the Snowy Mountains Scheme?


Snowy Hydro Ltd states on its website that:

The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority was corporatised on 28 June 2002 under the Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 to establish Snowy Hydro Limited. The Snowy Hydro Limited Constitution (Constitution) prescribes the responsibilities of the Board and Snowy Hydro’s reporting obligations, subject to the Corporations Act (Cth) 2001. Snowy Hydro’s shareholders are the New South Wales (58 per cent), Victorian (29 per cent) and Commonwealth (13 per cent) governments, with each shareholder having equal voting rights…….
Since corporatisation in 2002, Snowy Hydro has grown beyond the Snowy Scheme and now operates a growing and profitable retail energy, wholesale energy risk management and power generation business. We combine the power of the mighty Snowy Scheme with gas and diesel fired peaking generators to deliver a flexible and reliable mix of energy to our customers every day. We have 15 power stations, generate 4500 Gigawatt hours (GWh) on average per annum and have 5480 Megawatts (MW) of generating capacity across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. We’ve become the fourth largest retailer in the NEM by investing in growing our customer base, modernising our generation infrastructure, building and acquiring more generating capacity where we need it and developing our workforce of more than 1700 employees.

Snowy Hydro controls the headwaters of the Snowy, the Murray and the Murrumbidgee rivers and its water licence allows it to collect, divert, store, and release water by and from the works of the Snowy Scheme for the 75 year term of the licence. This licence is due to expire sometime between June 2076 and June 2077.

On 19 December 2016 the Dept. of Energy and Industry called for expressions of interest in conducting a valuation of the corporation for the three owners – with the contract to commence 1 February 2017.

The tender document states in part:

The contractor is required to provide each shareholder with a “fit for purpose” certified report, detailing the valuation of Snowy Hydro Limited's (SHL's) equity at fair value as at 30 June 2017 and 30 June 2018. The report will detail the scope, methodology, procedure and outcomes as well as all relevant assumptions, definitions and limiting conditions appropriate to the procurement. The contractor will supply the three shareholders with the preliminary and final versions of the valuation report in both written and electronic format. The report is to include explanations of movements in the valuations from year to year and take into account the interest holdings of the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian Governments. The contractor will undertake the valuation as at 30 June 2017 and 30 June 2018 as a Limited Scope Valuation Engagement….. 

On 15 March 2017 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Securing Australia’s Energy Future with Snowy Mountains 2.0 – a plan to boost Snowy Hydro’s power generation by 50 per cent.

This announcement mentioned $2 billion in federal government funding but in effect only commits to a feasibility study of pumped hydro expansion.

Remembering the 2006 push led by the Howard Government to sell off the Snowy Mountain Scheme as well as 2016 media reports of a possible sale, the valuation of Snowy Hydro Ltd raises questions about Turnbull’s out-of-left-field announcement.

Was it a prime ministerial thought bubble thrown in to quieten the heated debate over energy security which is currently taking place or was it a calculated ‘sweetener’ thrown in to make future sale of the corporation to institutional and foreign investors more attractive?

Thursday 16 March 2017

Berejiklian continues Baird privatisation madness


The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2017:

Serious concerns are being raised about the Berejiklian government's land titles registry sell-off, with multiple parties privy to the process claiming it is being rushed and the wrong model is being used.

One source in the data room says the auction of Land and Property Information (LPI) is going too fast and critical details are being missed, while another insider warns the public might be short-changed $3-4 billion.

The well-placed insider questioned why the government was treating LPI as an infrastructure asset when it was a data and technology one. 

"They're using a model that works for ports, toll roads and power stations, but LPI is completely different; it's a technology asset on the cusp of the biggest technological change in 150 years [moving from paper to electronic titles]," he said.

"They should be using the Telstra model and progressively privatising LPI, which will raise capital, create a commercial focus and fund the building of digital technology and services."

The government is leasing LPI for 35 years and hoping to reap $2 billion, which it plans to spend on rebuilding sports stadiums, despite protests from peak bodies for lawyersdevelopers and surveyors, that say the integrity of the state's world-class land titles system is at stake.

LPI, which enjoys a 70 per cent profit margin, generated $190 million in revenue in 2015-16. Fees for regulated products will rise by CPI each year.
"It's a bargain, and I believe they're under-selling it by $3-4 billion," the insider said.

He says there's confusion as to why the government was rushing the process, especially with an enviable balance sheet. This claim was backed by a potential buyer.

"There's a sense of urgency and it's very end-date driven," he said. "It's been more about getting this done and not about whether it's being done in the right way."

The source revealed there was a small group within government "hell bent" on privatising LPI. He added there was an "unhealthy influence" of the big infrastructure companies.

"There's an unholy alliance of consultants and advisers, all of whom are earning good fees, and there seems to be a pre-destined outcome," he said. "It's a privatisation feeding frenzy."…

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Government Data Retention: think this won't happen again?


Think the situation set out below won't happen again in some shape or form?

What about when government outsourcing to the private sector means access to those government databases quietly collating personal and sensitive information on all individuals living in Australia?

Victorian Ombudsman, media release, 12 September 2016:

WorkSafe: complex claims process needs fixing
  
Victoria’s workers compensation scheme must be recalibrated to ensure that complex claims are resolved in a fair and timely manner, a Victorian Ombudsman investigation has found.

Tabling the Investigation into the management of complex workers compensation claims and WorkSafe oversight today, Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said that while the workers compensation scheme is operating well in the vast majority of cases, the current system fails some particularly vulnerable people.

“The overall system is not broken, but the problems we identified in complex cases – some 20 per cent of the overall claims – go beyond a few isolated examples of bad behaviour. They cannot simply be explained away as a few bad apples spoiling the barrel,” said Ms Glass.

WorkSafe underwrites the Victorian workers compensation scheme with claims management functions outsourced to private insurers. During the investigation period the agent insurers for Worksafe were Allianz, CGU, Gallagher Bassett, Xchanging and QBE. The system currently incorporates a series of financial incentives for agents, including when claims are terminated or workers return to employment.

The investigation examined complex and often extended claims across different industries, roles and injuries (both mental and physical) to assess whether:
  •          agents unreasonably denied liability or terminated claims
  •          agents took such actions in order to obtain financial rewards available under the contract with Worksafe
  •          Worksafe provides effective oversight of the agents and their claims management processes.
Key recommendations from the investigation call for a review of dispute resolution processes within the system and improvements in oversight of complex claims by WorkSafe.

“We found agents cherry-picking evidence to support a decision to reject or terminate a claim – as little as one line in a medical report – while disregarding overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We found Independent Medical Examiners (IMEs) – whose opinions agents use to support their decision making on compensation – receiving selective, incomplete or inaccurate information. We also saw evidence of decisions being influenced by financial incentives to terminate claims.

“In effect, we found cases in which agents were working the system to delay and deny seriously injured workers the financial compensation to which they were entitled – and which they eventually received if they had the support, stamina and means to pursue their cases through the dispute process,” said Ms Glass.

The investigation attracted significant public interest after it was launched, with dozens of workers and others involved in the system contacting the Victorian Ombudsman to offer assistance or make submissions.

The investigation involved detailed reviews of claims across all five agents. A random sample of agent email records was examined and interviews conducted with injured workers and their families, executives from the five agents and former agent staff. Stakeholders including the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service, the Australian Medical Association, the Police Association of Victoria and the Community and Public Sector Union made submissions.

“Action must be taken to address the complex end of the system where terminations are rewarded. WorkSafe needs to examine its incentives – and the use of IMEs – to ensure the system rewards sustainable decisions and to target its oversight accordingly. The process for resolving disputes also demands careful reconsideration – it is in the interests of workers, employers and the public at large that the resolution of claims should be both timely and fair.

“WorkSafe has begun addressing many of these issues, and we have already seen improvements since my investigation began in 2015, but this work must go on. The cases we investigated are not merely files, numbers or claims; they involved people’s lives, and the human cost should never be forgotten,” said Ms Glass.


Notes to editors
  •          The Victorian workers compensation scheme is funded by a compulsory system of insurance that covers employers for the cost of providing compensation to injured workers.
  •          Worksafe manages around 90,000 workers compensation claims a year.
  •          The Victorian Ombudsman investigation conducted a detailed review of 65 complex workers compensation claims; most claims involved decisions made in 2014 – 2015.
  •         Insurers acting as Worksafe agents at the time of the investigation were: Allianz, CGU, Gallagher Basset, QBE and Xchanging. The Victorian Government decided in April 2016 not to renew QBE’s contract and QBE ceased acting as a Worksafe agent on June 30 2016. EML replaced QBE on the panel of agents. EML decisions and actions have not been examined during this investigation

UPDATE

A data breach in the making.......

Computer World, 13 September 2016:

The National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016 and the National Cancer Screening Register (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2016 are currently before the House of Representatives. The bills will create the National Cancer Screening Register, which will replace nine existing registers including the states’ cervical cancer register.

In May the Department of Health announced it had awarded the contract to establish and operate the register to Telstra. The $220 million contract has an initial term of five years with an option for a 10-year extension……

Labor “strongly supports” the move to establish a national register, King said today.

However, the MP said that the bills have been “rushed” into parliament because the government had decided to award the contract to Telstra before any debate on the register’s merits and associated privacy and data protections.

There was no debate over “whether it is even appropriate for such sensitive data to be placed into the hands for the first time of a for-profit provider,” King said……

The decision will “put some of the most sensitive data into the hands of a private telecommunications company.” “It’s a big question and a big call,” she said. “Not one that we, frankly, support”.

The new national register will hold information about every Australian eligible for cancer screening programs. “The register is not opt-in and an individual will only be able to opt out… of the register once it’s actually implemented,” King said.

Data held in the register will include individuals’ names, addresses, dates of birth, contact details, gender and sex, as well as Medicare item number, Medicare claims information and preferred GP or other health providers.

The register will also contain “extremely private and intimate health data” usually only disclosed to an individual’s GP, King said.

“Labor accepts that this information is necessary for the operation of the register, but we do not accept that Telstra – frankly with a questionable record of privacy breaches – should have Australians’ most private and sensitive health data.”

Thursday 28 July 2016

Another blow for Australian Infrastructure Developments: ACCC Chair reveals port privatisations not in the nation's best interests


Australian Infrastructure Developments Pty Ltd and its shadowy backers face more than a Lower Clarence community determined to fight its scheme to industrialise Port of Yamba situated in the high environmental value Clarence River estuary.

Now it has been revealed that its desire to extensively expand and privatise this small domestic port will in all likelihood increase freight costs for the Murray-Darling Basin farmers, graziers, agri-businesses and mining corporations that are supposed to be its future customers.

Financial Review, 26 July 2016:
The head of the competition regulator has called out governments for blatantly structuring asset sales to maximise profits at the expense of consumers and businesses.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said he had been a strong advocate of privatisation for 30 years because he believed it enhanced economic efficiency but he now believed "people in the street" who oppose privatisation because it raises prices had it right based on recent port sales in NSW. 
He said he was now "almost at the point of opposing privatisation" because state and federal governments were becoming increasingly blatant about structuring sales to maximise proceeds at the expense of competition.
"I am getting more exasperated. I just think governments are more explicitly now privatising to maximise the proceeds - including the Commonwealth," he said. 
"They are explicitly saying the reason they don't want to do this or this is that it'll damage the proceeds they are getting. They're not even playing the rhetorical game anymore. 
"I see it getting worse. I think a sharp upper cut is needed in this area. That's why I am saying, 'let's just stop the privatisations'. It is increasing prices - let's just call it out." …..
Mr Sims said ports privatisation was the best example of the approach that had turned him off privatisation as a policy. 
The ports of Botany and Kembla had been privatised together to limit competition, a big debate was under way in Victoria about making sure the Port of Hastings would be a competitor to a privatised Port of Melbourne in future, and "the same battle" was being waged over the Port of Fremantle, where  the WA government wants to give the buyer a right of first refusal over a future outer harbour port. 
The ACCC chairman last month criticised the way Port Botany was privatised, saying price monitoring of unregulated monopolies was ineffective. But this is the first time he has gone so far as the call a halt to sales of public assets. 
Mr Sims said he was less concerned about the NSW government's power poles and wires privatisations because the state has an independent pricing regulator. The NSW government has applied to the Australian Energy Markets Commission to draw out until 2024 an annual price hike of up to $520 per household that was scheduled take effect from July 2017 to avoid a "price shock" for consumers. 
Mr Sims said he was also concerned that monopoly ports were being privatised without any pricing regulation, leading to "lovely headlines in the Financial Review saying 'gosh what successful sales, look at the multiples they achieved'."
"Of course they bloody well did. The owners have factored in very large price rises because there's no regulation of how they set the prices of a monopoly. How dopey is that?" he said.  
'It's damaging our cost structure'
"I think it's a serious issue facing Australia. I think it's damaging our cost structure considerably. 
"And when you meet people in the street and they say, 'I don't like privatisation because it boosts the prices', and you dismiss them, no no, they're right. Recent examples suggest they're right." 

Sunday 13 April 2014

Waiting for the May 2014 Federal Budget: laughter before the tears


En Passant 8 April 2013:

The Abbott government has decided to privatise the air.
‘This will create the conditions for a much more efficient economy,’ Mr Abbott said. ‘Too much short shallow breathing has upset the natural rhythms of the economy and with air in the hands of private enterprise a thousands flowers will blossom, or not,’ he added.
Mr Abbott said that the privatisation would also contribute to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions as people slowed and deepened (but not too much) their breathing.
‘This is a win win for Australia,’ Mr Abbott said. ‘It is about environmental benefits, more jobs, less waste.’
‘What could be more natural than us paying Gina Rinehart or Rupert Murdoch for the privilege to breathe free market air?’ the Prime Minister asked.
‘Only socialists and off with the fairies Greenies support free air,’ Mr Abbott said, and added  ’just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, so there is no such thing as free air.’
‘We all have to breath together on this,’ the Treasurer, Joe Hockey said. ‘For too long the ideology of entitlement has blinded us to the reality that free air is a burden on the economy and holding us back. ‘….

Monday 23 May 2011

NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into Electricity Transactions begins today


Special Commission of Inquiry Electricity Transactions

The Honourable Brian Tamberlin QC has been appointed as Special Commissioner to inquire into and report on all matters relating to the electricity transactions (occurring both
before and after entering into those transactions), including:

1. Compliance with applicable laws, policies and practices;
2. The circumstances surrounding the resignation and appointment of directors of Eraring Energy and Delta Electricity in December 2010;
3. The value for money achieved for the State compared to the retention value of the assets to the State; and
4. The costs and benefits to the State of the electricity transactions, including potential risks and liabilities and the extent to which the transactions can deliver the stated objectives for entering into them; and
5. Any other related matters.

Further, the Commissioner is to inquire into and report on options for future action that could be undertaken to further the public interest in a competitive NSW electricity sector, including options to:

6. Address any issues identified in relation to the electricity transactions; and
7. Promote competitive electricity prices and ensure reliability of supply.

"Electricity transactions" refers to:

A. The sale of the State-owned electricity retailers (EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country Energy) by the NSW Government in 2010/11;
B. The sale of the electricity trading rights of the State-owned generators (Eraring Energy and Delta West) by the NSW Government in 2010/11;
C. The Cobbora coal mine development;
D. The sale of the development sites suitable for power generation by the NSW Government, including at Marulan and Mt Piper in 2010/11; and
E. The proposed sale of the electricity trading rights of State-owned generators (Macquarie Generation and Delta Coastal) that was not completed by the NSW Government.

The Commissioner is due to provide an initial report on or before 31 August 2011 and a final report on or before 31 October 2011.

In order to ensure that all relevant information is obtained, the Commissioner has been given the special powers under sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Special Commissions of Inquiry Act 1983 (NSW).

An initial public sitting of the Inquiry will take place at 10.00 am on 23 May 2011 in Court 8A, Level 8, John Maddison Tower, 86-90 Goulburn Street, Sydney.

On that occasion, the process to be followed by the Commission will be outlined, including the means by which the Commission will inform itself in relation to the terms of reference.

Submissions to the Inquiry should be in writing and lodged with the Inquiry by 4 pm 17 June 2011.

Submissions must comply with the Directions for Written Submissions which can be obtained by contacting Brad James, Executive Officer of the Inquiry at email address msciet@agd.nsw.gov.au
.
Individuals or organisations who believe they are substantially and directly interested in any subject matter of the Inquiry are invited to contact Clare Miller, Solicitor to the Inquiry, in writing at the address below in order to inform the Inquiry of their interest, and the extent of assistance which they can provide to the Inquiry.

Any person who has information and material which is relevant to the Inquiry is invited to provide it directly to Brad James, Executive Officer, at the address specified below.

Any person wishing to contact the Inquiry may do so at the address below.
Special Commission of Inquiry
Electricity Transactions
PO Box A1150 SYDNEY SOUTH 1235
Phone: 9377 5502
E-mail:
sciet@agd.nsw.gov.au

Thursday 27 January 2011

Keneally fiddles why New South Wales burns. Does O'Farrell intend to throw petrol on the fames?


While the Keneally Government has forced New South Wales to bend over and present to the powerful private energy industry sector with its under the table sell-off of the state’s electricity assets, this is how far we are behind in our undertakings regarding reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation between 14 to 24 January 2011.

Surely not even Premier Kristina Keneally can think that the private sector will seriously address this problem and, at less cost to the consumer?

As for Barry O’Farrell – he’ll probably continue with the sell-off once in office and then consider buying shares in Macquarie Generation, Delta, Eraring, AGL, Origin or Tru Energy.

Last week:

  • Total emissions grew by 4.1% or 78,000 tonnes, due largely to an increase in emissions from coal-fired generation.
  • Emissions from coal-fired generation, which accounted for 90% of electricity generation, grew by 6.4% or 70,000.
  • Emissions from gas grew by 5.7% or 9,000 tonnes.
  • Emissions from petroleum fell by 0.1% or 1,000 tonnes.
  • Electricity demand grew by 3.6%.
  • NSW imported 7.8% of its electricity demand to other states, compared to 7.7% the previous week.

Last year:

  • This week’s indicator is 1.0% higher than the same week in 2010
  • Total emissions to this stage of 2011 were 1.6% lower than the similar stage last year

Baselines:

  • 1990: 22% above
  • 2000: 4.2% above

    Wednesday 18 March 2009

    STOP the CELL OFF - NO PRISON$ FOR PROFIT$! Will Grafton gaol be sold off next?

    The NSW Government is planning to privatise the state’s prisons.
    While Minister Robertson claims there will only be two privatisations, the Department has other plans. At the recent Parliamentary Inquiry, Commissioner Ron Woodham said Grafton would be next.
    Private Prisons mean more assaults on staff and inmates, lower paid and untrained staff and more escapes. Prisons should not be run for profit.

    Stop the Cell Off!

    Sign the petition here.

    www.stopthecelloff.org.au

    Sunday 24 August 2008

    One view of Planet Iemma

    "You can bet that Iemma and all those other foreign names down in Sydney have taken wads of money from the Chinese to privatise our electricity."
    Longtime member of a local Australian Labor Party branch this week.

    Friday 15 August 2008

    Has Telstra crossed that 'bad taste' threshold?

    Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo has recently had his salary package increased by $1.6million to $13.39million.

    Now Telstra is not really doing as well as it has in the past, so why is it heaping enormous cash bonuses and incentives, shares and options to buy on senior executives?
    More importantly - why is its principal shareholder, the Commonwealth, not putting a brake on these huge payouts?

    I don't care how business savvy a CEO is; no-one could possibly 'earn' or deserve that sort of money.

    The Telstra board wins the 2008 Bad Taste Business Award as far as I'm concerned.

    Monday 12 May 2008

    Electricity privatisation: NSW Speaker opposes it

    The Member for Northern Tablelands and Speaker in the NSW Legislative Assembly, Richard Torbay, has put his cards about the privatisation of electricity on the table.

    The Armidale Express reports Torbay said, "I am still opposed to the electricity privatisation and have not heard any arguments to convince me otherwise.

    “Short term it will inevitably lead to loss of jobs and poorer services in country areas. But in long term the policy of selling off public assets may be seen as short sighted.

    “The debate we should be having is the lack of government investment in public infrastructure over a long period and whether the people would be better served through reversing this position.”

    Torbay said the power privatisation debate debased political standards in NSW and both the government and opposition had misled the people.

    Although Torbay gave both the Government and Opposition serves for the position they have taken on the power issue, he made a stinging attack on National Party MPs.

    According to Torbay, the Nationals had publicly opposed the sell off and told their constituents they were against it, but caved in at the last minute and fell in line with their Coalition partners.

    “It’s like dairy deregulation and firearms legislation. The Nationals say one thing in the electorate and then go back to Parliament and vote against it,” he said.

    With all its duck shoving, manoeuvring, number crunching and backflipping it has been an exercise in sheer hypocrisy and the worst I’ve seen since entering Parliament,” he said.

    “The vital component missing in this debate has been the interests of the people.

    “They have been misinformed and misled from start to finish.

    “Although it looks as if we have a done deal on the privatisation, very few people in regional NSW have any idea of how it would impact on them or whether it is a sound long term decision. That is the debate we should have had.”

    Mr Torbay said the Labor government went to the 2007 election with a commitment not to privatise the state’s public electricity assets and despite internal divisions now seemed set to push it through.

    After sitting on the fence throughout the debate, the Liberals and Nationals had given their support this week based on conditions that were simply a face saving device to mask growing political division within the parties.