For the second week in a row, Jeremy Rockliff has failed to justify why Tasmania’s public assets should be flogged off to pay for his failure to manage the state budget.

It’s because he can’t.

Today in Question Time, Jeremy Rockliff couldn’t give one example of where the privatisation of energy assets has been successful in Australia. He couldn’t tell Tasmanians why their power bills should skyrocket or why the risk of blackouts should increase, like we’ve seen happen in other states.

In what was effectively an admission that his plans would make Tasmania’s budget situation worse; he couldn’t explain where he would find the money to fund our schools, hospitals, and emergency services if he sells off the businesses that help support them.

Tasmania’s government businesses are strategic assets that underpin the state’s economy and government revenues more generally. Over the past 10 years MAIB has provided nearly $1 billion in dividends and other returns, while TasNetworks’ contribution has included nearly half a billion in dividends and hundreds of millions more in other returns over the same period.

Jeremy Rockliff’s desperation for a short-term sugar hit will rob future generations of the revenue we need to pay for our schools and hospitals. Because once these assets are gone, they are gone forever.

Dean Winter MP
Labor Leader