Peta Seaton MP
Shadow Minister for Finance, Shadow Minister for Energy, Shadow Minister for Reform of Government, Shadow Minister for the Illawarra
Hundreds of families in the Turramurra area will be in the dark for five days at the most inconvenient time as a result of two failed underground electricity cables in the area, Shadow Minister for Energy Peta Seaton said today.
“This comes as the latest Budget papers show $790 million in electricity dividends were pocketed by the Government in 05-06,” Ms Seaton said.
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“Nearly a quarter of the total dividend amount is from Energy Australia. According to Energy Australia’s half yearly financial report, the organisation is forecast to pay $180.9 million into the Iemma Government’s coffers in the 2005-06 year,” she said.
Ms Seaton called on the Premier to come clean about which other areas of Sydney were next in line for prolonged blackouts, with ageing cable infrastructure not coping with increased loads.
“According to Government information, two older style cables have failed, and a third simply couldn’t cope with the load,” Ms Seaton said.
“Local residents are paying the price for the Government’s greed for dividend payments to plug their budget black holes, rather than having a sustainable program of asset upgrade and renewal to maintain security of supply.
Ms Seaton said recent Budget over-runs have been caused by unbudgeted expenses such as Ministerial office fit-outs, and additional spin-doctor media monitoring – all putting pressure on other sources of Government revenue such as electricity and water dividends.
“Residents are forced to come home to dark and cold homes, where they must spend the next few days struggling to feed the family, do homework, and prepare for the next day by candlelight,” she said.
“Businesses will be forced to close early, losing valuable income.
“This is yet another example of the Iemma Government’s failure to keep pace with electricity supply and infrastructure planning,” Ms Seaton said.
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