The Electrical Trades Union has reviewed the LNP’s glossy 54-page Energy RoadMap, and quite simply, it’s a recipe for disaster.
The plan does nothing to deliver energy security, instead it’s really a plan for higher prices, more blackouts, investor uncertainty, job losses and a thinly veiled push for privatisation.
“The roadmap reads more like a political fix for internal LNP divisions than a serious plan for Queensland’s energy future. It panders to hard-right climate sceptics and fossil fuel donors who pull the strings in the LNP, it is not a vision for workers, communities or the economy.” ETU Qld/NT Secretary, Peter Ong.
The LNP has abandoned guarantees of public ownership for critical infrastructure like CopperString, deep storage and future generation assets. The union is warning of privatisation by stealth, the abandonment of public ownership of essential power assets that Queenslanders have fought and voted to keep public.
“Under Labor’s Energy and Jobs Plan, there was a minimum 54% public ownership guarantee for current and future generation assets and 100% public ownership of deep storage, transmission and distribution. The LNP has scrapped many of those protections and instead opened the door to largescale private investment into energy infrastructure through a so called QIC Investor Gateway This is economic vandalism, they’re selling off the family silver to their corporate mates, while regional communities are left in limbo. There are no guarantees for workers, no transition plan, and no commitment to public-led energy or manufacturing.” Queenslanders are right to ask: Why is the LNP walking away from its supposed bipartisan support for public ownership of essential energy assets? We deserve a fair, publicly-owned transition, not backroom privatisation for short-term profit.” ETU Qld/NT Secretary, Peter Ong.
For the entirety its long and proud history, right up until today, the ETU have been staunch advocates for the public ownership of the energy system. And because if this, the ETU Qld/NT Branch have put forward a submission detailing the grave concerns our union has with the LNP’s roadmap and ETU Qld/NT Branch Secretary Peter Ong gave evidence to a public hearing calling out the disaster this road map is leading to.
The LNP did not take privatisation of the energy system to the 2024 election, and now it is wilfully misusing targets and statistics to mislead the public as to its true intent: handing over new transmission and energy infrastructure to private hands, while maintaining control over assets that are on the verge of becoming stranded.
The ETU will not back down until this LNP plan is in the bin where it belongs.