Tasmanian Greens - Media Release - HANDS OFF THE HYDRO MEANS AURORA AND TRANSEND AS WELL, PREMIER

HANDS OFF THE HYDRO MEANS AURORA AND TRANSEND AS WELL, PREMIER

Greens Challenge The Government To Come Clean On Asset Sales
	The Tasmanian Greens today tabled a Notice of Motion in the House of Assembly calling on the House not to support the privatisation of Aurora Energy or Transend, two GBEs that were originally part of the wider Hydro conglomerate and that the Lennon Government has clearly been sizing up for sale as alluded to by Labor Ministers at the recent GBE Estimates Hearings. Greens Shadow Energy spokesperson Kim Booth MHA said that Labor had gone to the polls in 1998 with a clear ‘Hands of the Hydro’ slogan and that they now needed to publicly affirm that they stood by their word and that there would be no sale of either of the GBEs for short term financial gain by the cash strapped Lennon Government. “Today I tabled this Notice of Motion to as a challenge to the Lennon Labor government and Minister Llewellyn, to come clean on where they really stand with regard to selling off the former Hydro assets of Aurora and Transend,” Mr Booth said. “The Tasmanian public were led to believe that in 1998 when Labor pledged ‘Hands off the Hydro, that such a promise also extended to Aurora and Transend, but it is looking like this promise is set to be broken.” “These GBEs are both important publicly owned assets that if managed wisely are a secure and ongoing investment for the people of Tasmania and generations to come and they must remain in public hands.” “It would be a betrayal of not only their word but also their responsibility to safeguard the future of Tasmania if the Lennon Government sold off one or both of these major assets simply to offset the cost of their own negligence and mismanagement of the Basslink project, which has impacted upon the Tasmanian economy.” Related Links