Premier needs to make his position on privatisation more clear, unions say
“When you change your position on an issue by 180 degrees, it’s reasonable for people to ask some questions”: Unions are still questioning the Premier’s privatisation stance, up to the day of voting polls opening.
Tasmania
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Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he has made his position on privatisation “very clear” as Unions question why no Liberal candidate has signed their anti-privatisation pledge.
Mr Rockliff said his government would introduce legislation to ensure government business enterprises could not be sold without a two-third majority vote in parliament.
The peak union council Unions Tasmania, who represents more than 50,000 Tasmanian workers, has developed a pledge that puts some detail around the Premier’s vague commitment to anti-privatisation legislation.
Acting secretary Tom Lynch said candidates from Labor, the Greens, Nationals and many independents have all signed an anti-privatisation pledge, but no one from the Liberals.
“When you change your position on an issue by 180 degrees it’s reasonable for people to ask some questions, but Premier Rockliff has spent the whole election campaign avoiding questions that would reveal his real intentions.”
On Friday Mr Rockliff said Dean Winter was the only one who wanted to sell Tasmania’s energy assets, and that economist Saul Eslake was engaged by government to ensure the government business enterprises were delivering the best services for Tasmanians.
Mr Lynch questioned whether the Premier still planned to dispose of Tas Networks or other assets through a 99-year leaser, and whether he considers outsourcing services such a the Land Titles Office to be privatisation.
Mr Rockliff did not respond when asked if providing a 99 year lease would be considered privatisation.
Instead, he said the government had listened to Tasmanians concerns about high insurance prices, and spruiked the proposed TasInsure scheme.
Mr Lynch said the onus was on the Premier to make his position clear before election day.
“After all it was only a few weeks ago that he was proposing all Government Business Enterprises and State-Owned Companies be sold off,” Mr Lynch said.
“Openness and transparency are like kryptonite to Jeremy Rockliff so he avoids them at all cost, but Tasmanians don’t support their assets and services being privatised so he needs to make his intentions very clear before election day,’ Mr Lynch said.
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