Campaign Trail News

Iemma loses grip on power

News South Wales Premier Morris Iemma has been forced back to drawing board after failing to convince Labor MPs to support his power privatisation legislation.

He pulled the controversial legislation in response to the strong community campaign to keep vital electricity services in public hands.

Iemma and Treasurer Michael Costa failed to raise enough support within their own party, with many Labor MPs vowing to cross the floor if the Government proceeded with the legislation.
A mass meeting of power delegates on the Central Coast confirmed the position of a number of MPs who declared they would not back down.

Chris Hartcher from the Liberal Party, George Souris from the Nationals and John Kaye from the Greens all confirmed their opposition to the legislation, as did ALP members Linda Voltz, Grant McBride, Paul Gibson and Kerry Hickey.

Failing to garner enough support from his own party has forced Premier Morris Iemma to reassess his plans for power privatisation.
The legislation, which was to be tabled in parliament on June 17, has been pulled and any final vote delayed until September. The Premier is now attempting to negotiate with the Liberal Party in a final desperate attempt to force the proposal through.

Between now and September the Auditor General will review the legislation in keeping with demands from Liberal Leader, Barry O’Farrell.

The question on everyone’s lips now is; who is really running NSW? Morris Iemma or the Liberal Party?

Workers make history

The community campaign to stop the sell off continues to be a success thanks to the amazing work and dedication of thousands of power workers and activists across NSW.

More than 40,000 people have signed the stop the sell off petition to date, a figure that is testament to hundreds of hours of time volunteers have spent out in the community, talking to people about power privatisation.

Traffic on the website continues at a steady rate with anything up to a 150 people taking action and emailing local MPs and the Premier every day.

Local Government has also been getting on board and already 25 local councils have passed resolutions condemning the Iemma Government’s plan to privatise electricity.

To top it all off, there have been over a hundred visits to MP’s offices by stop the sell off delegations demanding action from their local politicians.

This campaign forced Premier Morris Iemma to delay any attempt to push power legislation through parliament for another three months – he simply doesn’t have the numbers in his own party.

The Premier of NSW is now doing something almost unheard of – he is negotiating with the Liberal and National parties in a last ditch attempt to force this decision through, ignoring the wishes of the people of NSW.

The stop the sell off campaign is far from over and there is still a lot of work to do but already, the people in this campaign, have made history.

Join your next local event. Go to our events calendar.

Tell us about events in your local area: info@stoptheselloff.org.au