April 14, 2013
The Electrical Trades Union is hoping to “light the fuse” to spark a community backlash against any State Government plans to privatise electricity assets in Queensland.
The ETU and community members, campaigning as Not4Sale, have organised a series of information forums which will be held across Queensland starting on Monday in a campaign dubbed the “Light The Fuse Tour”.
And the South Burnett hasn’t been forgotten.
A community forum will be held in Kingaroy on Monday, April 29, from 6:30pm at the Kingaroy Senior Citizens building in Avoca Street.
A spokesperson for the Not4Sale campaign said the tour would visit 23 locations and many workplaces throughout the State.
The campaigners believe the tour is likely to coincide with the release of the full text of the “Costello Report” which they say will recommend the sell-off and outsourcing of many State-owned assets and public sector jobs.
But Not4sale Community Organiser Lara Watson said the timing of the tour was organised well before the report release date was announced.
“The Costello Report is just one aspect of the Newman Government’s attack on State-owned assets and government workers. They have never made any secret about their desire to privatise and outsource electricity assets and jobs.
“Our campaign is about giving people the facts about what is at stake, so they can make an informed decision,” Ms Watson said.
“The government is peddling a lot of mis-information about the state’s electricity industry and we will be setting the record straight.
“Privatising the essential service that is electricity, does not lead to more efficient, cheaper power for consumers. In fact the opposite is the case: it costs more, is less reliable and responsive and profits generated go to private companies, many of which are overseas owned and controlled.
“We urge people to get informed and tell the government our assets and jobs are not for sale.”
