People power against energy sell-off by John Gauci

The fight to keep NSW electricity in public hands must and can be won. If Premier Morris Iemma and treasurer Michael Costa get away with their plan to sell off the state’s electricity generation capacity and its retail arms, working people and the community will get a dearer, less reliable service, and the chances of the state moving to a sustainable energy policy will be reduced to zero.

Polls show up to 86% of NSW residents oppose the sell-off. But this hasn’t stopped a desperate premier from making a deal with the NSW opposition to try to get it through parliament in September. Nor has it stopped Iemma from adding NSW’s weight to the successful lobbying of the federal ALP government for an Electricity Sector Adjustment Scheme, which will help preserve the market value of NSW’s coal-fired power stations under carbon trading. It is difficult to convey to those outside NSW how hated the sell-off proposal is.

Socialist Alliance members, who have been holding regular Saturday petition stalls, haven’t found anyone prepared to back the Labor-Liberal-NSW Business Chamber line. But for Macquarie Street, electricity privatisation has become the do-or-die proof of the Labor government’s trustworthiness with the big end of town. As a result, NSW Labor is now totally divided between the unions and ALP ranks, and the ministerial rump of the government. This has overtaken the old divides between the Centre Unity right and the left factions. So bitter has the dispute become that pro-privatisation former premier Barrie Unsworth is talking of refounding the Labor right faction — an initiative that would go nowhere.

The Labor parliamentary caucus is in permanent turmoil, searching for a Brutus with the numbers to knife Iemma’s Caesar. Despite appearances, division also grips the Liberal Party. There are the privatisation true believers — spear carriers for the NSW Business Chamber reputedly led by energy spokesperson Mike Baird. Then there are also those, such as leader Barry O’Farrell, who want to win the 2010 state election but who also know how unpopular the sell-off proposal is. (The last Coalition leader who campaigned for electricity privatisation at an election, Kerry Chikarowski in 1999, took a pasting at the polls.)

The NSW Business Chamber is aware that the Coalition is divided on privatisation. Its president, Ian Penfold, greeted the news of the government-opposition deal with a statement that sounded half-threat, half-pleading. “Privatisation is in the best interests of NSW and both the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition to date have demonstrated real leadership in a non-partisan manner. I have every confidence that the two leadership groups can develop the right framework for privatisation — to fail on this issue would be a disaster for NSW.” These Macquarie Street shenanigans will continue, but we need to keep focused on building the movement that has helped generate the NSW government crisis — the campaign against the power sell-off. The Power to the People — Stop the Privatisation Coalition is coordinating a series of petition stalls across 50 NSW electorates on August 16.

These “Super Saturday” stalls will be staffed by activists including people from Your Rights at Work groups, unions, ALP rank-and-file members, the Greens, the Socialist Alliance, environmental groups, religious organisations and people who are just plain angry with Iemma’s arrogant indifference to public opinion. The plan is to gather thousands of signatures to increase the pressure on MPs, and to promote the next major protest initiative — a monster rally and march against electricity privatisation in late September.

Some of the stalls outside MPs’ offices will double as protest pickets. The Socialist Alliance urges all members of the community to get involved because the bigger the campaign, the sooner the Iemma-Costa power sell-off proposal will sink.

[John Gauci is a NSW Teachers Federation councillor and Socialist Alliance member and is active in the campaign against the NSW power sell-off.

If you would like to help staff a petition stall in your local area on August 16, contact Colin Drane (0419 698 396), Trevor Davies (0400 008 338) or John Gauci (0413 310 452). For copies of the leaflet visit http://www.stoptheselloff.org.au/.]

From: Comment & Analysis, Green Left Weekly issue #761 6 August 2008.

Plebiscite on Power Sell-off at NSW Council Elections

I support the call for plebiscite on the proposed energy sell-off at NSW council election, a plebiscite or referendum on this unpopular and anti-environment policy of privatisation of NSW's energy power industry, could easily take place at the same time as the council elections on September 13.

Some 85 per cent of residents in NSW do not want our energy generators and retailers to be sold off. Premier Morris Iemma's own party has told him and Michael Costa, by a margin of 7 to 1 that they disagree with privatisation. Iemma has been forced to withdraw the energy bills for this session of parliament, due to a lack of support from his own Members of Parliament.

Socialist Alliance says that Iemma and Costa should listen to the public. Put the sell-off to the public: let democracy prevail. This is also the view of the Blue Mountains People Power group opposing privatisation. Also local Blue Mountains MP Phil Koperberg should be commended for opposing privatisation.Socialist Alliance supports the power industry workers who know that some of their work mates will be out of a job if this sale goes ahead.

We also support their calls for action if anyone is sacked, or if the energy bills go through with the support Liberal, Nationals, Shooters and Fred Nile. Like many others, we don't think that a sale will help shift energy production away from its main power base - polluting coal – towards the sustainable energy sector. To do this requires a political commitment to finding real and lasting solutions to the climate crisis – something that this government doesn't have.

Socialist Alliance has been given advice by the State Electoral Commission that such a plebiscite would be possible. The state government only has to ask the governor to issue a writ, and a plebiscite could be carried out at the same time as the council elections on September 13.

Let the people decide after all, this is what democracy is supposed to be about isn't it?

John Tognolini, Socialist Alliance Candidate for Ward One Blue Mountains City Council.

published in Blue Mountains Gazette July 9 2008

Keating's Past is Not NSW Labor's Future by Peter Botsman

Pryor's view of Keating as ALP Prime Minister back in 1994.

It’s been 12 years now since Paul Keating lost office. He returns to public life from time to time when he can’t help himself. But lately Keating has become just another politician who not only lives in the past but wants to turn the future into some version of his own heroic past battles. His recent vilification of Paddy Mc Guinness after his death was pathetic.

Today’s Op Ed on the hopeless Costa and Iemma is just as bad. Keating blames Bernie Riordan, John Robertson and the officers of the NSW Labor Party for the fact that Iemma and Costa could not win a simple argument with the rank and file of the party. That is not only the most pathetic joke I have heard in a long time, it makes a mockery of what really happened at conference on the weekend.

Not only did Iemma and Costa lose, they lost as close to unanimously as could ever be at a State Labor conference. It seems Keating, Iemma, Costa, Carr and Unsworth want to return to the past when majorities did not matter and you bludgeoned your way through the factions to get your way. The difference is this time if the old hacks get their way – it will be the end of the NSW Labor Party.

Parliamentarians won’t need a party they will just consult with their big end of town mates and make decisions based on their narrow, self oriented, view of the world. No doubt this cosy little group will be the major consultative group. This was not just a union vote. It was a vote in which unions were a minority of the vote against privatisation of the NSW electricity industry. The 702 delegates who voted against Iemma and Costa were left, centre and right. They were rank and file members elected from their State Electoral Councils and branches. They were as close as you could get in this forum to the make up of the people of the State of NSW. Ignoring this vote, goes beyond the privatisation issue, it trashes the idea of a democratic party and sets an ominous precedent for the future.

Despite the fact that Michael Costa was sent in to stir up the conference for the media, the untelevised debates were as good as I have ever seen at a Labor conference.

The debate on the floor of the conference was decisively won by the anti-privatisation group. They addressed in detail all of the arguments that Paul Keating raises in the SMH raised today. This was not the usual NSW Labor debate. Copies of the Unsworth Inquiry was circulated to all members on behalf of the government. Many used the opportunity to wade through it. In the past, if you dared to not follow the official Sussex St line then you were berated mercilessly on the floor. Keating learned all his formidable parliamentary venom from berating people on the floor of the Labor conference.

This time the tables were reversed. Those who usually gain the protection of the right wing Sussex St machine actually had to make a case. They failed miserably. Only John Della Bosca and John Watkins managed to cut through and make some decent arguments about the merits of the sell off. Bernie Riordan who Keating lambasts today gave a speech that was crisp and to the point. He demolished any argument that was made by the pro-privatisers. In doing so, he simply used sound logical argument.

His main points were:

NSW Electricity generation is a profitable monopoly business that returns a dividend to government each year. Now is not the time to sell the asset because it would probably not even get $10 billion let alone the $15 billion government first touted as its sale price.

Managing the transition of coal based power generation to carbon neutral power generation should rightly be a major job of government that would be aided by retaining power generation in public hands.

Not selling avoids the inequities that have arisen in every area of privatisation over the past three decades.
It is the height of hypocrisy for Keating to use his track record as President of the Labor Party to have a go at Riordan as Labor President.

It was Riordan who time after time implored the delegates to respect each contribution.
One can hardly imagine Keating in this role? It was Riordan who gave Kevin Rudd one of the best introductions that a Prime Minister has had to NSW Labor Conference. It all could have gone horribly wrong without Riordan's speech. It was Riordan who looked like a statesman, not a buffoon like Costa, or a man out of his depth like Iemma.

So Keating get your facts straight; it would be nice to see you some time at conference, maybe you can’t spare the time from listening to Mahler to actually mingle with the rank and file.

Keating says the National Electricity Market now means there is no reason to hold the monopoly NSW generators in public ownership. Who says?

The fact is that National Electricity Market gives public generators greater flexibility and capacity to on-sell. It also means that the people of NSW have a greater level of protection from pricing and predatory behaviour than the people of any other State.

It means that the people of NSW avoid the chaotic entry of private owners and managers and enjoy the benefits of national competition. Keating says that there is now competition in pricing through the National Market. This is no reason to sell off power generators.
Electricity generation simply becomes a better statutory corporation operating in public ownership but with the disciplines of the market to keep it efficient. NSW get the benefits of both worlds.

Keating says that power generators are industrial archaeology so they should be offloaded as if government’s sole prerogative was to dump losses. But he says hold on to the unprofitable poles and wires which do not make any money? Privatise the profits, socialise the losses! The super funds will build the power generation of the future says PJK. But where have the revolutionary projects been undertaken by even the union based Industry funds.

We've all been waiting for them? But the fact is that the trustees of even union funds are petrified to do anything outside markets dictates for fear of breaking their fiduciary duties to contributors. There is no way they will invest in risky new generators with unproven technology. So who cares about how the transition to a more greenhouse efficient energy production is managed?

This is not a job for government says Keating. We’ll leave it to the super funds and the market place. You’ve got to be kidding. It’s about time governments took on leadership on the big issues and stopped running governments as if they were just an accounting entity.

The clinch argument Keating wants to make is that if Carr had sold the electricity industry in 1997 the public was worth $35 billion. What a joke? I remember that debate very well. I was in the middle of it.

Those figures were constantly in debate particularly since when Kennet sold the Victorian industry he got such a profit than the first movers went broke in a very short amount of time creating chaos in Victorian power generation. The argument that Michael Egan and Bob Carr made was that the power industry was a basket case and would not return any dividends and needed to be sold because the government was going to have to go into debt to retain them. Last year the electricity generators returned $1.2 billion to the State budget in taxes and dividends. Since 1997 many billions have been earned. So deduct $10 billion from the $20 billion Keating reckons the government has lost because it should have sold in 1997 and then deduct another $10 billion as the normal wear and tear on an aging asset.

The government has lost nothing, and a counter argument can be made that it has been profitable to retain the assets given all of the dividends, taxes and external benefits that have been enjoyed by retaining them in public ownership. The truth is Paul Keating wants to go back to the party that he, Graham Richardson and Barry Unsworth shaped in the 1970s.

Now not even the party officers want to go back to that dark period. What a joke for Keating to hold himself up as a model of rectitude as party President. Loyalty for Keating meant stifle any free debate, obtain outcomes for the dominant group, dance over and ignore ordinary rank and file members views and ideas and make a laser-like run for any power. Keating was like a whippet at any party position that might gain him power and woe to any poor soul who got between him and his prize.

The reason why the Labor Party now has such a small membership is because Keating and his co-horts from the NSW Labor Right created a party that was for one small factional group. Whatever may happen now, Luke Foley and Karl Bitar are a breath of fresh air. Their task it to build a broader church and to create Labor officials, ministers and parliamentarians who have merit and are not just mates. The task is to build a party that is about the betterment of mankind not just the betterment of the big end of town.
So move over Keating. And Keating, so far as political competitiveness is concerned: The most competitive NSW government would not include Iemma or Costa in its ranks. Like the 85 per cent vote at conference, 85 per cent of the State do not want privatisation. Iemma won the last election facing the worst Opposition leader in living memory. Costa has made an utter fool of himself.

Now it is Iemma who has the lowest rating of a Premier in living memory and Liberal leader Barry O’Farrell is the front runner. John Della Bosca as Premier and John Watkins as Treasurer would be the strongest team against O’Farrell.

Lets hope that the gutless parliamentary representatives who have decided to defy Labor's membership and organisation, will see sense over the next week or so and ignore the mutterings of Labor has beens.

May Day targets NSW power sell-off by Pat O’Donohoe, Sydney

About 2000 people attended the May Day rally in Sydney this year. The rally had been moved from the traditional first Sunday of May to Saturday, May 3, so that it could begin and end outside the state ALP conference in Darling Harbour.

The protest focused on plans being pushed by NSW premier Morris Iemma and treasurer Michael Costa to privatise the state electricity — an issue being hotly debated inside the conference (see article on page 8). The rally began with chants such as “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Michael Costa’s gotta go!” and “What do we want? Costa out! When do we want it? Now!”.

The crowd heard that 40,000 signatures had been collected on a petition that would be presented to the ALP conference, calling on the state ALP government not to privatise power in NSW. Unions NSW secretary John Robertson told the rally “Your presence here today sends a message to everyone inside [the ALP conference] of opposition to the privatisation of electricity in NSW”. Penrith Your Rights at Work activist Linda Everingham reminded the rally of the power of organised labour, saying that before the last state election “this government was dead in the water and … the only thing that got it re-elected was Work Choices!”.

Kate Fairman, director of the Nature Conservation Council, spoke of the importance of the power industry in confronting climate change: “It is not in big business’s interest to save electricity … Selling off our power is a mad idea now, because we must reduce our emissions, not lock them in for decades … They should not be throwing this responsibility away, they should be doing everything in their power to address climate change.”

Other speakers included Robin Banks from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, power industry union delegates Amanda Lane and Les McAlister, and Maritime Union of Australia Sydney branch assistant secretary and Sydney May Day committee secretary Paul McAleer. After a short march around Darling Harbour, Greens MP John Kaye told the rally that they had reminded Costa and Iemma that they “do not own the power industry that they want to sell.” The rally finished with an address by Rami Meo of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine.

Chris Williams reports that 200 people rallied in Wollongong in opposition to the power sell-off. After marching, the crowd heard speakers from the NSW Teachers Federation, the Port Kembla branch of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Save Killalea Alliance. The rally voted in favour of two motions, one in solidarity with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, in support of their May Day strike against the Iraq war, and the second in solidarity with Iraqi workers struggling against the occupation of their homeland by US and allied forces.

Leslie Richmond reports from Adelaide that in the wake of the ALP state government’s moves to slash compensation levels for injured workers and with a growing union campaign of opposition, around 1000 people marched from Victoria Square to a rally at Adelaide University, chanting anti-government slogans and singing songs mocking premier Mike Rann. The rally was addressed by state Greens MP Mark Parnell; John Camillo, state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, and SA Unions secretary Janet Giles.

From: Australian News, Green Left Weekly issue #749 7 May 2008.

Rudd Backs NSW ALP’s Electricity Privatisation, Anyone Surprised? by John Tognolini

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his full support to the NSW state government's plan to privatise the state's electricity industry.

The NSW government says its plan to lease out power stations and sell all but the poles and wires assets of the state's power utilities will save the state $15 billion."Premier (Morris) Iemma has my complete support," Mr Rudd told journalists in Canberra.

The prime minister said the privatisation push was a necessary reform for the nation's power generation security.

"I understand how politically problematic it is, but we need to make sure that we get a proper generating capacity for the states for the future."

I support Premier Iemma's direction."

Is this a surprise to anyone? Remember last year the Liberals screaming that Rudd was a younger John Howard.

His nickname when he was a hatchet man in the Queensland state government was Dr Death by the unions for the cutbacks in government services and destruction of state government jobs.

Another reason to Oppose Privitisation,”I'll quit if power sale blocked” vows Mick Costa

"I'll quit if power sale blocked," vows Costa... But asked if he would resign if the Premier, Morris Iemma, was to waverin the face of union and party pressure and wind back the $15 billion saleplan, Mr Costa said: "He won't waver on this. I certainly will not hangaround in politics if we're not doing reform Š [but] this will go ahead."......When Mr Riordan launched his attack, he was responding to Mr Costa's vowon Wednesday that he would defy an expected resolution of the state Laborconference in May opposing the power sale. Mr Costa had said he was preparedto be expelled from the party for disobeying the resolution

NSW Unions to stop work and rally over ALP Power Privatisation, Wednesday Feb 26

Unions in the NSW energy sector have voted to go ahead with a planned stopwork rally, at which thousands of workers will voice their opposition to the state government's plan to privatise power stations.

The community rally will be staged outside the NSW parliament to coincide with the resumption of sittings on February 26, Unions NSW Assistant Secretary Matt Thistlethwaite said."These workers, and indeed members of the community, do not support the sell-off of assets that belong to the people of NSW," he told reporters."We intend to send a strong message to the premier, and Labor MPs, that they must back off on this terrible sell-off proposal."

Mr Thistlethwaite said a skeleton crew would man the state's power stations and network maintenance to ensure no interruption to power supplies on the day.He called on members of other unions, and the broad community, to attend the rally, saying the government's privatisation plan would lead to higher electricity prices and job losses in the sector.

The NSW government has announced plans to lease out the state's power stations and sell all but the "poles and wires" assets of the state's electricity agencies, saving the state $15 billion.The plan includes offering long-term leases to private companies to operate the Eraring, Macquarie and Delta baseload plants.

Unions have also voted to stage campaigns in 15 key marginal Labor-held seats to oppose the sell-off.

Stop The Sell Off of the NSW Power Industry

Stop Iemma’s sell-off of NSW energy! Keep public assets in public hands! Socialist Alliance

The Socialist Alliance supports the Unions NSW campaign against the privatisation of the state’s electricity generation. Privatisation is a threat to our services, jobs, pockets and environment. But by working together, unionists, workers, students, political organisations and the community at large can stop the Iemma government’s privatisation plans—just as we defeated the Carr Labor government’s attempt to sell off electricity in 1997 and the attempted privatisation of Snowy Hydro in 2006.

Here’s what we should all be doing:

Sign and distribute the Unions NSW petition against the proposed privatisation (download from here)

Discuss in our workplace and community the real costs of this latest attempt to sell one of our basic services (read Dr Sharon Beder’s submission for Unions NSW to the Owen Inquiry into Electricity Supply in NSW—download it from here )

Support local rallies and public forums (see Green Left Weekly for details)

Ask our union to call for a mass delegates meeting before Parliament resumes to discuss the next steps in the campaign (see model motion below)

Campaign to stop the sale of other public assets targeted by Iemma—ferries, water, waste services, superannuation and Lotto.

Join the protest outside Parliament House, February 26!

Model Motion for union meetings: This meeting of [details of meeting]:

1. Supports the Unions NSW campaign against the threatened sell-off of power provision in NSW,

2. Calls on the [name of union] to support the campaign launched by the electricity delegates on December 19 last year (see below) and

3. Calls on Unions NSW to call for a mass delegates meeting of all unions before NSW Parliament resumes to discuss the next steps in the campaign.

Together we defeated Work Choices! Together we can defeat Iemma and Costa’s sell- off!
For more information: Bea Bassi 0411 614 495 (NSW Trade Union Committee) Steve O’Brien 0409 878 485 (Newcastle Socialist Alliance), Alex Bainbridge 0413 976 638 (NSW Socialist Alliance co- convener)

Public Assets Sold = Services Lost
Privatised Energy = Soaring Electricity Prices
Privatised Energy = Job Losses

Stop NSW Privatisation-John Tognolini

John Tognolini

This a blast from the past. I'm proud to have opposed  the privatisation of power. I resigned from Socialist Alliance in 2020 when it became a cult like sect. I'm still a Socialist and joined the Greens in 2020.

It's a tried and true NSW Labor formula—wait until the holiday season is almost here, then ram your nasty plans through caucus while workers and the community are winding down for Christmas.

This is how NSW premier Morris Iemma has started his bid to privatise up to $15 billion worth of publicly owned energy generation assets.Beginning with Margaret Thatcher in the UK, we've seen over two decades of privatisation of basic services like energy, water and transport: the jury is now in.

For the user, it means higher prices and less reliability, for the worker, less job security, for the environment, greater danger of pollution, but for the corporations, very, very fat and publicly guaranteed profits.

Anyone who believes that privatisation will benefit consumers should check out the experience of Melbourne's commuters, Adelaide's electricity users, or remind themselves of Sydney's cross-city tunnel and airport rail link.

In Queensland, on the first day of privatised energy (July 1 last year), the corporate energy suppliers raised tariffs by 11.7%—partly to cover the advertising costs of competing among themselves for customers!

Now, ten months after re-election Iemma can't wait to privatise energy, to be followed by ferries and water.The experience of the Your Rights at Work campaign against Work Choices showed that if working people and the community fight for their rights they can win.

I urge people to ring Phil Koperberg's office to express their opposition and support the campaign against Iemma privatisation plans by Unions New South Wales.

John Tognolini
Socialist Alliance candidate for Ward One Blue Mountain City Council
Blue Mountains Gazette 16-1-08

600 at Newcastle meeting against electricity sell off

600 people packed the Panthers Club for a public meeting about the Iemma/Costa proposal to sell off most of electricity industry.

This follows stop-work meetings and half-day strikes by Macquarie Generation and Delta electricity employees last week. They also voted to not co-operate with the consultants and others hired to organise the sell-offs.

The public meeting last night endorsed an ongoing campaign. Their resolution says:-
“We, the Hunter Community pledge to fight Privatisation of the NSW Electricity Industry.
This includes selling, leasing or any other method of privatising NSW Utilities including Electricity.

This meeting agrees to fight the NSW Government by all lawful means at our disposal and will include the following:-

Formation of a “Stop The Sell Off Hunter Committee” to be comprised of relevant community groups. This group to agree on a paper as soon a possible to be distributed widely within the community

Wide spread distribution and collection of petitions.
Formation of a lobby group to meet with all Hunter Politicians.
Further public forums with local members outlining their positions.
E-mail , fax and phone campaign to local politicians and the Premier, Treasurer and senior ministers.
Letterbox drops and Railway Station handouts shopping centre visits to distribute relevant information as it comes to hand.

Participation in the 26th of February protest at Parliament House Sydney.
Public rallies in support of any Electricity Industry workers who are disciplined by the Government for failing to cooperate with the Privatisation process.
Any other activities as agreed by the Stop The Sell Off Hunter Committee.

This meeting also condemns the underhanded manner in which the NSW Government has attempted to force Privatisation on NSW residents without any consultation with the community and the Union movement and in breach of NSW ALP policy.

This meeting calls on ALP members to insist on a special State conference as soon as possible to debate the issue of privatisation and calls on elected ALP Parliamentarians who have voted on privatisation to accept the wishes of their constituents and vote against privatisation.”

Stop NSW ALP'S Electricity Privatisation by Noreen Navin

Privatisation of any aspect of the state's electricity service or its infrastructure should be ardently opposed. Revenue raised from production and supply of electricity for the government to be re-distributedinto our public schools, public hospitals, public transport and other services will be delivereddirectly into the hands of the private sector who have no social responsibility to the Australian public.

Despite the great performance of our public schools and hospitals, they are in desperate need of upgrading. It is socially irresponsible for any government to sell its assets, particularly a money spinner such as the electricity.

The next implication for NSW residents, as demonstrated historically both in Victoria and abroad (Thatcher’s England and San Fransisco for example), is the increased costs and decreased efficiency.

The private sector has only one imperative and that isthe profit imperative.

It is in the corporate sector's interests, as we saw clearly with the support by the Business Council of Australia for the HowardGovernments' Workchoices regime, that profits are gained at the expense of employees' wages and conditions. Any employees who manage to maintain their jobs in a privately owned institution are subject to the provisions deemed appropriate by the employer and the basic protections and entitlements that public service workers enjoy currently may easily be removed.How different would this be for these employees than if they were subjected to the Coalitions’ Workchoices?

The ALP machine needs to take heed of the message of the community about Howard's neo-liberal policieswhich were rejected and take heed that the community will fight this issue as vehemently as they fought against the attack on our working lives.

As public service employees, teachers should be in solidarity with other public sector workers and seethat disadvantaging one group is an attack on all.

Unions kicked the campaign off with a mass meeting of electricity delegates late last year. Now, a mass delegates meeting of all public sector unions to co-ordinate the next stage of the campaign with maximum rank and file involvement and participation is needed, if we are to prevent the sell off of this vital publicly owned asset.

Resolutions should be passed at Union and Community meetings to call on Unions NSW to urgently organise a bigger response to this issue than theYR@W response. Serious leadership is required as the vote Howard out – vote ALP in strategy is not an option this time!

Noreen Navin is a New South Wales Teachers Federation State Councillor

Stop The Sell Off of the NSW Power Industry