NSW Labor is calling on Treasurer Matt Kean to be upfront with the people of NSW about what intervention he is considering on Eraring power station, after his government privatised it in the first place.
Following media reports today, the people of NSW have a right to be scratching their heads and asking what is the point of privatisation of our essential assets, and why sell it off in the first place.
The Liberals sold Eraring for $50 million in 2013 – and today it was confirmed they are looking at buying it back once again.
This is despite previous failed attempts to buy it back for $239 million in 2021 to keep it open for three more years from 2025-28. These negotiations failed, but not before they spent $3.1 million on advisors.
The Australian Energy Market Operator recently brought forward its projections for a gap in energy supply for NSW to now occur in 2025-26, which it originally predicted to occur in 2029-30.
This is on top of confirmation by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) that consumers will have to pay to cover the costs of the NSW Government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
It’s clear that the NSW Liberals and Energy Minister Matt Kean have dropped the ball on energy supply – otherwise he wouldn’t be trying by Eraring back.
The NSW Government’s privatisation of power generation has left the state vulnerable to power shocks and shortfalls with little leverage to fix this looming threat.
NSW has no control over when these power stations come offline because between 2013-2015 the Liberals and Nationals sold off all NSW’s state-owned generators.
That’s why NSW Labor will create the NSW Energy Security Corporation, a state-owned body that will accelerate investment in renewable energy assets that will deliver cleaner and more reliable energy and help keep the lights on.
And that’s why Labor will never privatise the rest of our electricity assets – or any other essential asset.
Labor’s Fresh Start Plan for energy will ensure we can help keep the lights on, and do so while keeping essential services in public hands, and creating good jobs across the state.
Quotes attributable to Jihad Dib, NSW Shadow Minister for Energy & Climate Change:
“It’s economics 101, you don’t sell an asset for a cut price and then offer to buy it back for more. Privatisation does not work. It has been a disaster for NSW, and under Labor it stops.
“In their rush to privatise everything, including critical services such as energy, the Coalition Government has put their obsession for a quick buck ahead of the needs of the people of NSW when it comes to being able to keep the lights on.”
“Matt Kean needs to front up and explain to the people of NSW how much taxpayer money he now needs to spend to buy back Eraring because of his Government’s privatisation failure.”
JIHAD DIB
NSW SHADOW MINISTER FOR ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE
