Qld government plans $1b energy sell-off -

The Queensland government has called for tenders for its sell-off of a $1 billion energy package.
Acting Deputy Premier Anna Bligh said the government's sale of the Powerdirect Australia package marked a "unique and exciting opportunity for the energy retailing market".
"Powerdirect Australia is a new entity being established from the recently acquired Victorian energy retailer Powerdirect, the competitive functions of Ergon Energy Retail and approximately 390,000 customers to be transferred from Sun Retail (a subsidiary of Energex)," Ms Bligh said.
Ms Bligh said the government wanted to achieve a sale that "provided a fair return for all Queensland taxpayers" but admitted there were some hurdles to overcome.
"In April 2006 we made a commitment to undertake the sale of what were either higher risk or non-strategic energy assets.
"The separation of the 390,000 Sun Retail customers is a real challenge with some systems and logistical issues to work through, and this will take time," she said.
The announcement for parties to submit expressions of interest for the assets follows the government's decision to sell the Sun Retail and Sun Gas as well as its Allgas distribution business.
Meanwhile, Ms Bligh said the government wanted to create jobs in the maritime industry by scoring a large amount of naval ship-building contracts worth $8 billion.
Ms Bligh said the government was working with Viking Industries and the Brisbane Marine Industry Park to see a Common User Facility (CUF) established at Hemmant in the city's east.
She said the CUF would be a "large, sophisticated fabrication and assembly facility that will act as a base for major heavy engineering contracts such as the upcoming naval tenders".