When electricity networks are privatised, as they were in Victoria, the new, profit-oriented owners tend to constrain their labour costs, much to the annoyance of their unionised workforce. This is the key reason why the union-backed Labor and Greens parties are opposed to privatisation in NSW. But it is also a key reason why electricity network prices tend to be lower in Victoria compared to NSW.
When former Queensland Labor Premier Anna Bligh tried to sell the Queensland Government's electricity network, she made some very insightful comments.
"At times in our history the government of Queensland has sold beer, sawn and milled timber, retailed fish and even had 90 state owned butcher shops. In Brisbane, our electricity network wasn't state owned until 1977. And we didn't own power stations until then either. We've always owned a railway, but never owned a communications company. While we've retailed fish and meat, we've never been greengrocers."
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While Mike Baird may agree there is no logic in the current list of government-run businesses, he must be hoping he isn't destined for the same fate as Anna Bligh.
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