Bligh and Fraser Deceiving Self and Public
Media Release from Dorothy Pratt, independent member for Nanango, 2 June 2009
Short sighted and seriously self deceiving is how Member for Nanango Dorothy Pratt described the actions of Premier Anna Bligh in selling off state assets such as the Queensland motorways, Qld rail's coal haulage, Port of Brisbane and Forestry Plantations Qld and who knows what else.
"This is a desperate, ill thought out attempt to fill a dirty big black hole resulting from a spend-happy government," she said.
"I always have issues when the people's assets are sold off to pay for a squanderer's debt. Good times have been abundant for years but as soon as we hit hard times the coffers are bare because the government didn't save for the rainy day. To say I'm furious is an understatement. If you wanted to sell, why would you sell at the bottom of the market? You don't sell the cow when your income is derived from the milk.
"What's the point of having a business if you're going to sell off the infrastructure so that you don't have an income? It's absurd and to say that privatisation of these assets will make it cheaper for the general public is simply a con. I've never seen anything come down in price once it's privatised. Privatisation of the energy delivery system was supposed to result in lower prices for the consumer. That not only didn't happen but prices have skyrocketed since."
Mrs. Pratt said the announcement only seven weeks after the election screams of deliberate deceit of the people and to state that the government has a mandate to sell these assets is self deceiving on both the Premier and the Treasurer's behalf.
"The Premiere cited Qantas as having gone from strength to strength since it was privatised but she failed to mention the jobs lost to overseas, Qantas' short-cut tactics and their near disastrous consequences. These same issues will dog the privatisation of these assets. The unions know it, the workers know it but the Labor government is sticking its head in the sand. They have failed to ensure the state stayed in the black in the good times and are scrambling to cover that failure before the budget is delivered in two weeks time," Mrs. Pratt said.
See also: Dorothy Pratt's web-site at pratt-mp.webs.com.
Contact: ph: 07 4162 1381, e-mail: Nanango [ AT ] parliament.qld.gov.au.
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