2017-04-12
Media Announcement at 10.45am today at Speakers Corner.
The Queensland Greens have today announced the first phase of the Power for People Plan, that will save Queenslanders up to $370 a year.
“We want to scrap private electricity retailers and create a single public retailer by expanding the responsibility of Energy Queensland. It will have a mandate to provide affordable and reliable electricity to all Queenslanders,” said Amy MacMahon, Greens candidate for South Brisbane.
“It’s pretty simple, we want an energy system run for people not profit.
“Private corporations should not be making a profit by overcharging us for a basic necessity like electricity.
“Privatisation of the electricity retail market was a mistake. Since Labor privatised retail in 2006, prices have doubled and the retail charges have jumped to 35 percent of power bills.
“Instead of paying for telemarketers and enormous CEO salaries like the private retailers, we’ll direct Energy Queensland to put money towards making our bills cheaper.
“Private retailers like Origin and AGL, and Labor and LNP are the only ones benefiting from privatised electricity retail.
“In the last four years Origin and AGL made $7.2 billion in profit on their retail business.
“In the same year that 21,000 Queensland households had their power cut off because they couldn’t afford to pay their bills, the CEO of AGL earned $6.9 million.
“Ordinary Queenslanders are going without power to line the pockets of big business.
“Since 2006, Labor and the LNP have received over $1.3 million in donations from AGL, Origin and EnergyAustralia.
“The public owns generators, and power lines which deliver the electricity - all retailers do is buy power and sell it on at a markup.
“When Labor privatised electricity retail they created profit-hungry middlemen whose only function is to send us a power bill.
“Our plan would save money for people in regional Queensland too.
“The Uniform Tariff Policy links electricity prices in the regions with prices in the Southeast, so when our public retailer drops in prices in the Southeast, prices would fall in regional Queensland as well.
See the Greens’ Power for People Plan at www.greens.org.au/powerpeople
Media Contact: Max Chandler-Mather 0421 729 502.