2022-12-21
Responding to the passing of the Energy and Utilities Administration Amendment Bill 2022, Greens MP and spokesperson on Treasury and Energy Abigail Boyd said:
“Finally it seems that the major parties in NSW have woken up to the fact that we are in a cost-of-living crisis, perhaps roused by the sight of the State election on the horizon."
“While ordinary people are struggling, with wages flatlining, rents going up, the cost of food, petrol, electricity, mortgage payments, doctors appointments, out-of-pocket school expenses, everything on the rise, the big corporations and the fossil fuel companies continue to rake in record profits."
“This Coalition Government says people are better off in this State – but saying something does not make it true."
“The truth is that in NSW the cost-of-living has skyrocketed, people are doing it tougher than ever before, and the average person in NSW is well aware that it is the Coalition’s favouring of the big end of town that has led us to this grim state of affairs."
“There’s no doubt that fossil fuel companies have been profiting from the war in Ukraine, but it’s not just the war that’s created this energy bill crisis."
“It is the special treatment given to fossil fuel companies and the mistakes of privatisation that has created this current crisis."
“It’s not just the $10 billion a year in subsidies and lax regulation that has allowed these companies to ignore the impacts of their operations on people’s health, on our environment, and on our climate."
“It’s the fact that they aren’t made to pay even a tiny fraction of the long-term costs their businesses have imposed on the rest of society, and the unholy alliance with the major parties on protecting the big polluters' bottom lines."
“When you privatise an essential public service, you put the people of NSW at the mercy of private corporations when it comes to fulfilling our most basic needs,” Ms Boyd said.