Unions slam Barnett Government advertising campaign to promote Western Power privatisation

Electricity unions have slammed the Barnett Government’s plans for a taxpayer funded advertising campaign to promote the privatisation of Western Power and other parts of Western Australia’s publicly owned electricity system.

Despite Colin Barnett saying he hadn’t made up his mind on privatising Western Power, the State Government released tender documents yesterday calling for responses from full-service advertising agencies able to develop, manage and implement an integrated consumer communications campaign and advertising channel planning strategy relating to the State Government’s program of reform of the Western Australian electricity market.

According to the documents, the campaign will “provide the opportunity to communicate and explain major milestones of the Electricity Market Review (primarily), as well as other energy related policies and initiatives that may affect the way Western Australians consume energy – now and into the future.”

Australian Services Union (ASU) WA Branch Secretary Wayne Wood said using taxpayer’s money to promote privatisation would go down like a lead balloon with the public.

“With privatisation, the community always pays,” said Mr Wood.

“Over the last seven years, householders have paid with higher prices, as Colin Barnett has jacked up power prices to fatten up our electricity system for sale.

“Just last week, we’ve learned that 215 Western Power employees will pay with their jobs, as they cut costs in an effort to make Western Power more appealing for sale.

“In Victoria,173 people paid with their lives in the Black Saturday bushfires, where five of the worst blazes were caused by poorly maintained privatised power lines.

“Now, the Barnett Government is asking taxpayers to pay for a glitzy advertising blitz to promote his privatisation agenda.  This could equate to millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money being spent promoting a policy we know the majority of people oppose.”

ETU WA Branch Secretary Les McLaughlan said privatisation had had catastrophic consequences in Victoria.

“The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires, which left 173 people dead, found that faulty privatised power lines were responsible for causing five of the most devastating blazes,” Mr McLaughlan said.

“This tragic case study highlights the very real dangers of electricity privatisation to the community.  It has special relevance to communities in Perth’s hills and the south west of Western Australia.

“Once electricity networks are placed in the hands of private companies, the number one factor that guides decision-making around maintenance and investment in new infrastructure is profit. Public safety becomes less of a priority.

“No matter how much money Colin Barnett and Mike Nahan waste on selling their privatisation agenda, we are confident that the community will maintain its strong opposition to privatisation.

“While we don’t have the resources of government, we’ll do everything we can through our Use Your Power campaign to get our message out.  We’ll be asking all Western Australians to use their power at the ballot box to defeat the Barnett Government and stop the privatisation of our electricity system.”

The ASU and ETU joined forces in 2014 to campaign against the privatisation of WA’s electricity network.  They have consistently warned that privatisation would result in fewer jobs and apprenticeships, as well as higher electricity prices, less reliable services and increased bushfire danger.