The O'Farrell government wants the parliament to hand Treasurer Mike Baird the power to sell off the state's generators while dumping responsibility for future financial losses onto the public purse, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye ('Taxpayers face huge bill after power sale', Sydney Morning Herald, 9 March, page 2, http://j.mp/yj9KLJ ).
Dr Kaye said: "Like its Labor predecessors, the O'Farrell government is looking for a quick hit of cash to fatten its election war chest, while leaving households to carry the downside risk for decades to come.
"Labor's botched gentrader contracts saddled two of the state-owned generator companies with responsibility for millions of dollars of losses and highly risky maintenance bills.
"The Coalition's solution is to give itself the power to dump the liabilities onto energy consumers and taxpayers for the next 20 years while maximising the sale price for the power stations.
"The O'Farrell government is trying to rerun the worst features of former Labor Treasurer Michael Costa's failed sell-off.
"Privatising the profits while forcing taxpayers and consumers to bear all the risk might work for the Coalition's 2015 election plans but it will leave the state and households much worse off," Dr Kaye said.
