Not good enough: CPSA says no to electricity sell-off

“The people of NSW are not fooled. Electricity privatisation will see households paying more for their electricity, and low-income households seriously financially disadvantaged.”

“CPSA does not accept Premier Nathan Rees’s assurance that proceeds from the sale of electricity assets will be invested into public transport (Financial Review, 19/11/2009). Public transport should receive the investment it needs without having to sell-off another essential service.”

“Regardless, it’s a tough sell to many in rural and regional NSW who don’t believe that they’ll receive decent public transport service after the sale. But, they’ll be paying for it by way of electricity price hikes.”

“Pensioner and low-income households will further under-use electricity because they cannot its higher cost. The Pensioner Energy rebate will not adequately protect pensioners from electricity price hikes – it’s failing to do so now – and its indexation to CPI rather than an energy price index will result in it falling further behind as prices rise. This is not to mention other low-income households that are not even entitled to the rebate in the first place.”

“The NSW Government needs to retain its electricity assets and adequately protect pensioner and low-income households by providing energy price-indexed rebates.”

Media contact: 0410 612 182

Charmaine Crowe
Policy Coordinator
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA)
Level 9, 28 Foveaux Street Surry Hills NSW, 2010
Phone (02) 9281 3588
Mob 0410 612 182
Fax (02) 9281 9716