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NT Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro promises no sale of public assets if CLP wins government

After the controversial sale of the TIO and lease of Darwin Port, the CLP leader says her party has changed, pledging no more sales of Territory assets if they are elected.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has pledged there would be no sale of public assets under a government she leads.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has pledged there would be no sale of public assets under a government she leads.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has pledged there would be no sale of public assets under a Country Liberal Party government.

The controversial sale of the Territory Insurance Office and 99-year lease of Darwin Port to a Chinese company were significant in the overwhelming defeat of the Giles government in 2016.

Ms Finocchiaro said “there had been a lot of lessons to learn” since over eight years in opposition, and the CLP had “heard very clearly that retaining assets is critically important”.

“That’s something we believe passionately in as well, we want to see a strengthening of public assets, not a diminishing,” she said.

The lease of Darwin Port to a Chinese company has drawn strong criticism. Picture: Floss Adams
The lease of Darwin Port to a Chinese company has drawn strong criticism. Picture: Floss Adams

“I assured Territorians at the 2020 election and I will assure Territorians again in 2024, that there will be no asset sales under a CLP government.”

She said there would “be no austerity measure” to fund more public assets, instead the party would focus on “cutting the waste, being fiscally responsible with Territorians money, and growing our economy”.

It comes as the government admitted it was considering buying stranded solar farms at Batchelor, Manton Dam and Katherine, which have been sitting offline for at least four years.

Multinational oil company ENI bought the farms in 2019 under a deal expecting commercial operation by the end of that year.

However the solar connection was stalled due to concerns over power stability, with the government introducing new generator performance standards to avoid grid collapse.

Only a quarter of Eni’s Katherine Solar Farm is connected to the grid.
Only a quarter of Eni’s Katherine Solar Farm is connected to the grid.

The new regulations shifted the goalposts to make investors responsible for ensuring dispatchable power – something ENI estimated would cost it more than $20 million.

Under pressure to progress towards the Territory’s target of 50 per cent renewable target by 2030, Chief Minister Eva Lawler this week said purchasing the solar farms from ENI was “an option”.

“We need to be able to control the energy that comes from those, so it is an option,” she said.

Ms Lawler did not give an estimate of the cost.

Her comments came at the announcement of a second big battery system planned for the Top End, which once connected would help bring more stability to the Darwin-Katherine grid.

“Only a Territory Labor government will keep our assets in the hands of Territorians,” she said.

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/politics/nt-opposition-leader-lia-finocchiaro-promises-no-sale-of-public-assets-if-clp-wins-government/news-story/d47810745ea8d4e20e8d9cb16a8fd56d