"We're 'getting screwed' by energy companies, Bill Shorten says
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has given a frank assessment about the privitisation of the energy industry in Australia, saying a serious discussion about its merits is overdue.
We heard the Treasurer Scott Morrison earlier this morning saying there'd been a failure of politics to address this issue over the last decade. That's led to market uncertainty and plenty of political fracas.
But Mr Shorten says there's "no doubt" privitisation has been "a big problem" in Australia for many years. He says it's impossible to wind back the clock, but there should be a rethink about the role of the private sector.
This is all very interesting given the Government's comments about electricity company AGL and the Liddell power plant in the Hunter Valley, which is planned to close in 2022.
The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to keep the plant open for another five years to guard against power outages over summer, with other plants being decommissioned. But AGL say it wants out of coal.
Here's what Mr Shorten told Sabra Lane:
Businesses are getting screwed at the moment and lets call it as it is - the power of large energy companies, their ruthless pursuit of profits above all else is hurting Australia.
We haven’t had a conversation in this country about the impact of privatisation of our electricity in the 1990s.
What we’ve seen is that we have lost control of prices and we are seeing that the profit of large companies is being put ahead of the needs of consumers and business.”
