The Reaction - For And Against
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 11, 2007
THE business lobby says the state power asset sale is a win for consumers, workers and business. "Governments will get back to their real job, not running a power company but making sure that workers, consumers and business get the best power deal" as the regulator rather than operator of the industry, the deputy chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Christopher Brown, said.
The Sydney Chamber of Commerce executive director, Patricia Forsythe, said: "The Owen inquiry estimates that privatisation would mean that NSW's balance sheet will be $22 billion better off, once interest payments are taken into account."Unions will launch a campaign against the sale next week. The secretary of Unions NSW, John Robertson, said the big payments to workers were designed to cloud people's judgment about "what is in their best long-term interests".The Opposition leader, Barry O'Farrell, said Mr Iemma lied to voters before the March election. "In fact, he ruled out the sale."
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald