Tasmanian Greens - Media Release - LABOR’S INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ‘HANDS OFF THE HYDRO’ PLEDGE

LABOR’S INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ‘HANDS OFF THE HYDRO’ PLEDGE

The Tasmanian Greens today said that the Lennon Labor government was progressively whittling down its 1998 ‘Hands off the Hydro’ pledge, in a cynical ruse to set the scene for the possible sale of the Aurora and Transend government corporations.
Greens Opposition Leader and Shadow Treasury spokesperson Peg Putt MHA said that when Labor came to power on their Hydro promise Tasmanians understood that commitment to encompass the generating, transmission and distribution functions which were centralised in the old Hydro and only disaggregated at around that same time.
Ms Putt also reminded that Labor had voted down her 2001 Hydro-Electric Corporation (Hands Off The Hydro) Amendment Bill because it included the Bell Bay power station, and had also quarantined its windfarms from the promise.
“Tasmania is faced with a shrinking ‘Hands off the Hydro’ pledge as Labor progressively whittles down the promise to exclude the transmission and distribution companies Transend and Aurora, as well as leaving the Bell Bay power station and the windfarms up for grabs,” Ms Putt said.
“Michael Aird should be embarrassed to be claiming that the Lennon government is keeping faith with Tasmanians when their hands are all over substantial parts of the old Hydro counting up the dollars if they decide to sell.”
Ms Putt reiterated the Greens’ call for Labor to rule out selling Aurora or Transend in order to fund the new Royal Hobart Hospital.