Ausgrid sale hit by 11th hour NSW change to pricing policy
After three years of playing Mr Nice Guy, New South Wales voters are beginning to see the emergence of Mr Bad Guy. via Crikey
The ballad of Baird: how Teflon Mike became the big bad wolf: Bellevue Hill Boy - Alex Mitchell
The Baird government is facing fresh
headaches in its attempt to offload a $10 billion stake in NSW’s
electricity distribution network, with restive crossbenchers growing
concerned that a bid by Chinese utility giant State Grid could use a
loophole to cut thousands of fulltime jobs.
Bids for a 50.4
per cent stake in Ausgrid, the state’s largest electricity distribution
network, closed yesterday, with the government expected to make a
decision within the fortnight.The two parties remaining in the race for the assets, the sale of which Premier Mike Baird took to the last election, include the Chinese government-owned State Grid Corporation, and the privately held Hong Kong firm Cheung Kong Infrastructure.
State Grid is understood to have partnered with contracting firm Downer EDI, leading to fears it will use loopholes in the legislated minimum number of employees to cut costs.
Mike Baird under fire over Chinese bid for NSW power network
When you meet people in the street who say ‘I don’t want privatisation because it boosts prices’ and you dismiss them — they’re right, says Rod Sims. Governments are handing over unregulated monopolies ...
It’s not surprising privatisation has become unpopular, as it’s common for governments to trade off long-term public interests for immediate gain, says head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It’s become “severely damaging” for the economy, ACCC chair Rod Sims told the Melbourne Economic Forum on Tuesday. Despite having been an advocate of privatisation for the past three decades, the competition regulator is now “almost at the point of opposing privatisation”, he argues. Bad privatisation ‘severely damaging’ the economy: ACCC chair
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said he had been a strong advocate of privatisation for 30 years because he believed it enhanced economic efficiency but he now believed "people in the street" who oppose ...
Selling public assets has created unregulated monopolies that hurt
productivity and damage the economy, according to Australia's consumer
and competition tsar, who says he is on the verge of becoming a privatisation opponent.
It's not surprising privatisation
has become unpopular, as it's common for governments to trade off
long-term public interests for immediate gain, says head of the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The privatisation of public assets is “severely damaging” the Australian economy by
lifting prices and hampering productivity, according to Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims.
Privatisation
Australian style has taken a huge hit from former keen supporter and
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims.
In a widely reported speech to the Melbourne Economic Forum, an
"exasperated" Sims ...
Mr Sims said privatising ports, including Port Kembla and Port Botany, which were privatised
together, and the Port of Melbourne, which came with conditions
restricting competition from other ports, were examples where monopolies
had been created ...
The first rule of any asset privatisation
should be that it boosts competition within the relevant market, and at
a minimum does not lessen competition.
BHS scandal: Six urgent reforms to save BHS clones in the making
BHS scandal: Six urgent reforms to save BHS clones in the making