Labor-Green Government Blew $68m on Electricity Reforms

It has been revealed in Estimates today that the cost of the previous Labor-Green government’s 2012 Electricity Reforms was in the order of $68 million, excluding redundancy costs.

Only the incompetent Labor-Green administration could have spent $68 million on reforms to try and make prices cheaper, and then fail to deliver key planks of the reforms.

This included the management of the sale process that failed to deliver a sale outcome, the establishment of a transitional services agreement that was not required and system changes required to be ready for competition, although there are no new retailers in Tasmania.

The sale of Aurora Energy’s retail customer base was identified by the former Minister as necessary to create a competitive environment when Full Retail Competition was introduced.

If it hadn’t been such a hallmark of their government it would beggar belief that the former Labor-Green Government could oversee this kind of spending but fail to get the job done properly.

The full business-related costs associated with the failed energy reforms will be disclosed in the Annual Reports of the electricity businesses.

The Liberal Government is working to produce Tasmania’s first whole-of-state Energy Strategy, which will help deliver our commitment to ensure Tasmanian households and businesses pay the lowest possible power prices which are fair and sustainable.
Matthew Groom, Minister for Energy