Not impressed by Liberal-Nationals plan to privatise NSW electricity networks across the NSW Northern Rivers

Letters to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 23 March 2015: 

Whole truth 

On March 15, NSW Nationals Leader Troy Grant was quoted in the national media as stating of the Baird Government's electricity privatisation plan that: "Country poles and wires will remain 100 per cent in public hands".

On June 13, 2014, the Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, was quoted in The Daily Examiner: "With Essential Energy exempt from the deal it will remain in public hands and retain control of the poles and lines".

Both politicians are not being as truthful as they could be.

Power to businesses and homes on the NSW North Coast does not just magically flow from Essential Energy.

What Grant and Gulaptis are not saying is that an estimated 12,700km of high voltage transmission lines and 94 substations which criss-cross the state are part of the state-owned Transgrid network and these will be offered for sale with a price tag in the billions for the 99-year lease. Transgrid's transmission lines supply electricity to "electricity distributors such as AusGrid, Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy" [www.transgrid.com.au, March 2015].

In other words, the main conveyer of power to regional electricity networks in the Clarence, Richmond, Brunswick and Tweed valleys will be effectively sold-off if National Party candidates standing in the Clarence, Lismore, Ballina and Tweed electorates succeed in winning these seats on March 28.

This will eventually translate into price increases for local business and residential users, because a privatised Transgrid will not absorb the future cost of infrastructure maintenance/replacement and will pass this cost through to Essential Energy in its contract rate [TransGrid's Transmission Prices July 1 2014 to June 30 2015].

Judith M. Melville

Yamba

People to pay

Regarding Brian Haselum's letter (March 18), I believe the proceeds from the privatisation of our electricity is to be spent on new infrastructure.

This will result in a shortfall of the State Government's income by around $1.7 billion per annum.

Whether it is electricity prices that go up or something else, it will be the people of NSW who will have pay for the Government's annual shortfall.

People should keep this in mind when they vote on the 28th.

Trevor West

South Grafton

NSW State Election 2015: Not happy, Mike!

Letter to the Editor in The Northern Star, 24 March 2015:

Poles apart

The NSW Lib/Nat state government wants to privatise the electricity network by leasing the distribution network for 99 years.

Most NSW residents will therefore never again see it in public hands and when the lease expires in 2114 it would probably get renewed for another 99 years meaning it will never return to public ownership.

The state will not benefit financially for another 99 years after blowing the original booty on a stack of hasty re-election promises.

As with all privatisation of the people's assets, staff are sacked, service declines and prices rise, just look to Telstra.

When Telstra was in government hands they were Australia's biggest employer and there were works yards in every town with trucks, tractors and local qualified Telstra linesmen ready to attend promptly to faults and new installations.

Now that is all gone, mostly contractors do the work, employment and training of school leavers has all but stopped, service doesn't exist and prices have risen.

The NSW Lib/Nat government claims we will not be affected on the Far North Coast, however Transgrid which supplies most of our power from the high voltage distribution network will be 100% privatised.

Maybe when the electricity prices go up we can resort to using the methane bubbling out of the ground for heating and cooking once the government covers our land in leaking CSG wells.

GARRY OWERS

Meerschaum Vale

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner, 25 March 2015:

MP loses trust

BEFORE you vote remember that once the electricity network is sold off it's gone for good, and no amount of bleating from our ineffective member Chris Gulaptis is going to get it back or stop the Sydney-based liberals selling off Essential Energy at a latter date.

This is the same member for Clarence who had to clarify with his party who he represented over the closing of the Grafton goal, i.e. his party or the people who elected him.

How can he be trusted to look after his electorate?

How can he be trusted again?

Paul Macdermott

Lawrence

Letter to the Editor in The Northern Star, 25 March 2015:

Poles an asset

Why sell a publicly owned monopoly guaranteeing a $1.7 billion return every year?

Privatising publicly owned utilities like electricity assets and water supplies puts states at risk of being held to ransom, especially if foreign owned (e.g., South Australian electricity assets are Chinese owned). There is significant foreign interest in our electricity assets. How simple to cripple a state by turning off the electricity supply.

The $20 billion from leasing these assets is illusory. In truth the NSW public sector's net financial worth will be substantially reduce adding $1-2 billion annually to the budget deficit, weakening the state's financial position.

It displays the worst features of past privatisations of public assets with the financial loss at the top end of the range of past ventures. 'Asset recycling' won't occur as non-income generating assets - hospitals, schools, roads - will replace an asset generating income.

The claim that 49% of the poles and wires will be leased is very misleading. One hundred per cent of Transgrid and 50.4% of both Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy will be privatised representing about 67% of electricity assets, not the 49% oft quoted by the coalition. Government will lose control over the underlying infrastructure.

Who wants a Premier with only a Plan A or a government that deceives the electorate for political gain?

MEG PICKUP

Ballina

One NSW Mid-North Coast council doing the right thing by the planet

The Coffs Coast Advocate 21 March 2015:

USING 100% renewable energy by 2030 is the boldest of a set of new energy and emissions targets set by Coffs Harbour City Council, which is embarking on a renewed push to save money and help improve the environment.

Other targets include:

* Reducing annual corporate emissions of CO2 gases from 2010 levels by 25% by 2020 and by 50% by 2025.

* Ensuring Council's energy use consists of 25% renewables by 2020 and 50% renewables by 2025.

"These are ambitious targets, but we are confident that as technology continues to improve and we carry on working hard to cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions, we will reach them," Coffs Harbour Mayor, Cr Denise Knight said.

The most recent initiative has been the installation of solar panels at the Botanic Garden, but Council has a long history of seeking energy-efficient solutions.

In 2004, Coffs Harbour became the first council in Australia to introduce energy-efficient street lighting across its entire local government area. In 2009, a landfill gas capture facility - the first of its kind on the Mid North Coast - was installed at the Coffs Coast Resource Recovery Park. This has seen a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions.

Then in 2010, Coffs Harbour City Council installed the largest public rooftop solar power array in NSW on the top of Rigby House which saves $30,000 per annum in electricity costs…..

NSW State Election 2015: former federal minister & current gas industry lobbyist accused of lying about privatisation

Martin Ferguson reinvented himself after leaving parliamentary politics and, became a group executive in natural resources at Kerry Stokes' Seven Group Holdings, a non-executive director of the BG Group an international exploration and LNG production company and, chair of the advisory board at Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA), a peak national body representing Australia’s oil and gas exploration and production industry.

This was Martin Ferguson in November 2014:

FORMER federal Labor energy minister Martin Ferguson has urged the party to support Premier Mike Baird’s electricity network privatisation push while also delivering a stinging rebuke to Opposition Leader John Robertson, who he said was stuck in the 1930s.

The comments came as Mr Ferguson compared the proposed long-term lease of 49 per cent of the electricity assets to raise $20 billion for much-needed infrastructure to the reforms of the Hawke and Keating governments in selling off Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank.

In a speech to be delivered at an Infrastructure Partnerships Australia lunch today, Mr Ferguson will call on Mr Robertson — an ardent opponent of the sale who he also compared to a 1930s Labor leader — to pass through the upper house the sale of the networks, should Mr Baird, as expected, win the election next March. [Martin Ferguson, Repowering NSW]

While this is Martin Ferguson today..........

Electrical Trades Union of Australia media release 24 March 2014:

Martin Ferguson caught on a lie with claim his position on privatisation is the same as during his political career.

Former Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has been caught lying to The Australian, after reportedly claiming that the position he held on privatisation was the same as what he had argued for throughout his political career.

Far from being a consistent position, it is a complete backflip from the speech he delivered at the launch of his parliamentary campaign which savaged privatisation, claimed the sale of power companies led to higher prices, and warned that cheap and equal access to services was best delivered by publicly owned companies.

During Mr Ferguson's speech at the launch of his campaign for the Victorian seat of Batman, in October 1995, he told the room of supporters:

“We’ve seen what the privatisation policies of the Liberals have done in this state — the education system in Victoria is reeling from the changes; the sale of the electricity companies will mean higher prices for ordinary consumers…

“Jeff Kennett’s privatisation plans hurt the battlers. And John Howard’s privatisation plans will also hurt the battlers.

“I am convinced that Telstra must remain in public hands… If our regions are to grow and compete they must be able to rely on a publicly-owned telecommunications company who will provide them cheap and equal access to the information super-highway.”

The Electrical Trades Union said Martin Ferguson had no credibility left and was simply parroting the messages of the major corporations he is now paid to represent.

“This was an Energy Minister who — between 2007 and 2013 — presided over the worst period of electricity price rises in Australian history,” ETU national secretary Allen Hicks said.

“According to the Federal Government’s own Australian Energy Regulator, national power prices increased by around 50 to 60 per cent from 2009 — under Mr Ferguson’s watch.

“Here we have one of the worst energy ministers this country has ever seen, blatantly contradicting the position he advocated to get in to parliament, all on behalf of corporate giants in the energy sector that stand to gain out of his new-found passion for privatisation.

“He has performed a backflip on this issue worthy of an Olympic gymnast.

“With Mr Ferguson’s record of failure, he simply has no credibility left when it comes to electricity privatisation or energy prices.”

A copy of Martin Ferguson’s 1995 speech can be found at: http://www.actu.org.au/actu-media/speeches-and-opinion/martin-fergusons-speech-at-launch-of-campaign-for-batman

NSW State Election 2015: No CSG No Coal says Yamba

The Daily Examiner 23 March 2015:

THE people of Yamba have spoken, with more than 87% of households saying yes to a gasfield-free future.

At an anti-CSG declaration at the Yamba River Markets yesterday morning, state election candidates for the seat of Clarence, Trent Gilbert, Janet Cavanagh, Debrah Novak and Bryan Robins, spoke publicly on their stance on the issue amid heavy rain.

Co-ordinator Dave Irving said that the downpour hampered entertainment and plans to make a human sign, it was not enough to keep people from turning out to support a declaration.

The move was the culmination of a year of planning, doorknocking and collating results which will be presented to Clarence Valley Council in the next few weeks.

During the project, volunteers surveyed 1501 households, with one respondent for each household.

Sixty-four respondents said they would welcome the coal seam gas industry, and 116 were not sure.

The remaining 1321, equating to 87.8% of those asked, said they did not support the introduction of the industry to the area.

As well as asking individual households if they wanted their land and roads to be gas-free, the question of whether they wanted their neighbourhood to be coal free was raised.

Just over 85% of respondents said they wanted to be coal free, with 8% not sure.

Eighty-nine people, representing 6.1% of those interviewed said they did not want Yamba to remain coal-free.

Mr Irving said concerns about coal came from a Regional Development Australia proposal to turn Yamba into a coal port.

"We don't want to be alarmist about it, because we have absolutely no idea of the viability of that, but as a proactive measure we decided to enter that question in there," he said.

The announcement comes a week after Iluka presented its own 91% gas-field free declaration to Clarence Valley councillor Sue Hughes, and Mr Irving said the movement was growing.

"I think people have been empowered by CSG movement, because they feel they can get up and have a say," Mr Irving said.

"If there wasn't opposition and it wasn't as broad as it is, it would be knocking on our front door already.

"The CSG movement has proven that we can make a difference, and hopefully people can take that confidence and apply it to other areas, whatever their concerns may be."

NSW State Election 2015: The Nationals must be worried that the Far North Coast might kick over the traces at the ballot box

First it was NSW North Coast Nationals who were sprung trying to increase their chances at the ballot box on Saturday by rather dubious means.

The Northern Star editorial on 24 March 2015:

The Northern Star has been used by the Nationals for electioneering purposes and I'd like to set the record straight for our readers.

There's an attack ad doing the rounds with the line that The Northern Star agrees Labor is full of 'hot air on CSG'.

In the television version of the advertisement, there is even a copy of an article written by our reporter Helen Hawkes. It appears below a headline with the same sort of line in it.

But that headline, quoted out of context from the article beneath, does not convey the true meaning of the story.

It was basically a yarn about Labor's political foes, most notably the Nationals, criticising Labor leader Luke Foley's announcement of a moratorium on CSG in NSW.

In effect the headline summed up that that Nationals and Greens were sceptical of Labor's call for a moratorium.

That view doesn't come with the ringing endorsement of The Northern Star as we have been striving to be fair and impartial in our coverage of the CSG issue.

My own personal view is that Labor's moratorium is like having an each-way bet at the races.

It's neither having a plan to introduce CSG, which the Nationals have been plugging, nor a ban on mining as the Greens want to do.

Moratoriums are only good for fence sitters who can't make up their mind.

Labor has further promised a permanent ban on CSG on the North Coast.

The waters have been muddied sufficiently on CSG with Labor and the Coalition blaming each other for its implementation.

I'd simply urge our readers to make up their own minds and vote accordingly on election day this Saturday.

Then it was the Catholic hierarchy in the Lismore diocese attempting to influence parishioners’ votes as though it was still 1950s Australia.

The Northern Star 24 March 2015:

PARENTS of local Catholic school students have received a State Election guide in school newsletters emailed to them.

It is understood some parents have lodged objections with their schools about the appropriateness of being sent a "form guide".

The guide includes information on where the three major parties stand on "abortion and protection of the unborn", euthanasia, marriage, Catholic schools and religious freedom, and has previously been inserted into Catholic church bulletins.

The guide features a foreword by Bishop of Lismore Geoffrey Jarrett, in which he said: "This is the moment to cast our vote and, for us Christians, it means a vote in accordance with our conscience: that's a conscience tuned to the deepest truths, among other things the dignity of the human person, their right to religious freedom, the preciousness of life, marriage and the family, and the rights of parents to educate their children in a way that respects their religious and moral beliefs".

"Apparently there is a saturation campaign being conducted," said Neville Kelly, a Ballina resident and Labor party member who was among parishioners who objected to what they saw as an infringement of democratic rights.

"As a Catholic, I abhor this disgusting behaviour."

The principal of St Mary's Catholic College in Casino, Aaron Beach, said parents had received election information from the diocese in the past.

"We have had no feedback either way," he said. "I don't have any concerns with putting out anything from the bishop - it is his prerogative to give information."…..

The Abbott Government intends to only pay a group of disabled workers 50 per cent of the wages owed to them due to discriminatory employment conditions

Snapshot taken from Prime Minister Abbott’s St. Patrick’s Day 2015 message

For a man who flaunts his Catholic credentials and frequently presents himself in a posture reminiscent of a 1950s parish priest in the pulpit, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott doesn’t have a genuine Christian bone in his body.

If he did his government wouldn’t currently have a bill before the Senate which again seeks to limit an unknown number of individuals, within a group of up to 10,000 workers, to just 50 per cent of the back wages owed to them due to discriminatory employment practices allowed under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) scheme:

Snapshot from Business Services Wage Assessment Tool Payment Scheme Bill 2014

Abbott is pursuing this in the face of a decision by the Australian Human Rights Commission and a  Federal Court judgement (upheld by the High Court) which found that these workers had been discriminated against with regard to wages paid.

He obviously intends to compound this discrimination by including that paltry offer in the bill.

What is occurring in Canberra is setting off alarm bells among families and carers, some of whom are hitting out at the Abbott Government's lack of consultation regarding the proposed legislation and at almost every group making submissions to the Fair Work Commission in Equal Remuneration Case 2013-14.

CARERS ALLIANCE media release 24 March 2015:

PARENTS OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY ARE FEARLESS

 – NOT FRIGHTENED

 Statement by Mary Lou Carter, Secretary of Carers Alliance:

“Many of our members are parents of adult children with intellectual disability employed in Australia’s Disability Enterprises (previously called ‘sheltered workshops’), our families send out a call to the Senate to respect our family members’ right of choice – the most basic of human rights – and support the passage of the BSWAT Payment Bill through the Upper House.

“We are fearless – not frightened – when it comes to protecting the jobs of our sons and daughters with intellectual disability.”

Ms Carter, who has been attending the current Fair Work Commission discussions into the process of designing a new instrument for wage assessment for Disability Enterprise employees, said the Courts are an unsatisfactory tool for fashioning public policy.

“The legal system is such that only lawyers and government-funded disability rights activists know the rules. Our family members are expected to just play along. That’s a whole new world for parents trying to protect their children’s right of choice.

“More importantly, some 9,998 workers with intellectual disability have had no say about either this BSWAT Payment Bill now before the Senate, or the forced imposition of an alternative Supported Wage assessment tool by the end of April.  Forcing services to use a wage tool that would cause closure due to financial insolvency would mean some 70% of those people could soon be unemployed. Then they would have no employment income and have to pay for day services – if they could get them - or be forced to stay at home in the care of their families.

“Parents know exactly what’s at stake if their adult children with intellectual disabilities lose their jobs in Disability Enterprises. It’s not just about the money, it’s the loss of dignity that work provides. It’s the poverty, the loss of social interaction with their peers, the loss of their sense of achievement and inclusion as valued members of their community, the loss of their self-esteem and pride.

“It’s about the denial of their right of choice -

1.   The right to choose whether they take any compensation – to which they might be entitled - by opting out of a class action in which they were included by legal artifice, without consent or consultation; and 
2.    To choose to continue working in their current jobs, earning a fair wage consistent with their capacity. If the actions of the ideologues force closures, then our workers cannot choose what no longer exists, because more time is needed to develop an alternative wage tool.

”Many people currently working in Disability Enterprises contend these choices have been denied them because of actions unilaterally taken by funded rights activists, the lawyers and the unions, without any reference to the major stakeholders: the workers with an intellectual disability themselves, their parents, families and carers.

“You would have to be there at the Fair Work Commission hearings, witnessing the ideological fight by funded advocates, lawyers and unionists, to feel how family members are depicted. If some of the workers now employed in Disability Enterprises can work in open employment, that’s great for them. But the majority cannot, and neither they nor their jobs should be demeaned, disparaged or jeopardised in this way.

“Families of Australians with significant intellectual disabilities are deeply frustrated by a system that can mount an argument based on rights, and yet, in the course of that argument deny the basic right of choice to our nation’s most vulnerable workers.

“These are our children, our family members. We are frustrated by the process, and lack of it, but we are fearless – not frightened – when fighting to protect our ADE’s. We know the value of jobs for these workers, especially when so many able-bodied workers cannot get jobs.

“We don’t talk about disability; we live it.” 

BACKGROUND

PWD People With Disability:

Wage Justice Campaign…….

17 February 2015: Update on Variation of Supported Employment Services Award 
United Voice, Health Services Union and National Peak Disability and Advocacy Organisations — Communique, Tuesday, 17 February 2015 Variation of Supported Employment Servces award. 

On 23rd December 2013, United Voice and the Health Services Union made a joint application to the Fair Work Commission to vary the Supported Employment Services Award 2010.This Award covers employees with disability working in Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs, formerly known as Sheltered Workshops). The application was made following the decision by the Full Federal Court in Nojin v Commonwealth which found that the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool used to determine wages unfairly discriminated against workers with intellectual disability. The application also seeks to deal with the extent to which other Wage Assessment Tools listed in the Award are discriminatory against workers with disabilities.

On 20 June 2014 the full bench of the Fair Work Commission decided that in an effort to find a solution that there be a Conference of the parties led by Deputy President Booth. There has been a series of meetings held at the Fair Work Commission since 1 September 2014. Conference proceedings are conducted as a confidential process and without prejudice basis.

On 16 February 2015 the parties agreed to conduct a study using the Supported Wage System with modification in a sample of ADEs. This will consider the impact of using historical productivity data on the productivity wage assessment rates of workers with disability. The parties will discuss the results of this study at the next scheduled meeting on Monday 27 April 2015.

UPDATE

The Guardian 26 March 2015:

During the caretaker period of the last election campaign the department of social services applied to the Human Rights Commission for a three-year exemption from the Disability Discrimination Act to give it time to develop a new, fair assessment tool. It was granted a single year, which expires in April.

Guardian Australia understands a new assessment tool is not yet ready, and the government is likely to have to ask the commission for more time. The decision would be taken by the full commission.

Innes, who was still a commissioner when last year’s decision was made, said “that decision set out a course of action the government needed to take ... I have not seen evidence they have done that, so I would have thought it would be difficult for them to argue that they should get a further extension.”

Innes said if the government did not get an extension, workers with disabilities could lodge complaints and possibly seek damages.

But Dr Ken Baker, the chief executive of National Disability Services said one year was always an unreasonable timeframe.

“A new tool is being developed under the guidance of the Fair Work Commission, and the government has provided money to develop and implement it, but it is technically challenging and it takes time,” he said.

He said about one third of disability organisations had already moved to different payment schemes. But if the commission did not grant the commonwealth an extension, many organisations would be in contravention of the act.

At the same time, the government has failed to pass legislation which offers employees with disabilities half the backpay to which they might be entitled, on the condition that they shun legal action designed to recover the full amount.

The bill implementing the back pay deal – the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool Payment Scheme Bill 2014 – was rejected by the Senate in November. It was to be voted on again this week but has now been dropped down the priority list and won’t be voted on until June. Crucial crossbenchers remain undecided…..