What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights.

Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future.

These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply.

They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria.

Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck.

Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;)

And yet check your electricity bill because it will probably have a service charge of around $100 on it !!!  That adds up to a hell of a lot of money every quarter for what ? What on earth is this collection of money being used for because like you said you rarely see an electricity service truck fixing up the lines these days ??

In the old days you regularly saw an SEC truck maintaining the lines as they should !!

I always say that essential services such as electricity should not be privatized because the priority of providing an essential service is replaced with the priority of providing a profit !!

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:16pm:

Remember that, if you voted Liberal,

that would be you, wouldn't it Red?  :-/ :-/ :-/

No John.. Last Election I voted for the Politician who would best represent The Blue Mountains Electorate, Trish Doyle Labor Party.

The Blue Mountains bucked the State wide trend and dumped the sitting Liberal Member Rosa Sage out on her arse because she was doing a sh.t job.

Remember John I am NOT LIBERAL. I will vote for the Party who has their electorate's best interests in mind.

I have always said that.

good on you Red .. i didn't think you had it in you!

In fact Sir Last Nail, my son is a high voltage worker in the Electricity Industry, today he was given his pink slip.

He told me that the grid is in good shape but that situation will go to pot when large numbers of frontline workers are culled.

Like I said it is happening right now. So much for the sh.t that the Liberals pushed to get the sale over the line.

And....they haven't even managed to find a buyer yet and the jobs are going already.

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:16pm:

What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used ...

I doubt that they would tell lies.

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:16pm:

What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;)

Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required.

In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining.

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:36pm:

No John.. Last Election I voted for the Politician who would best represent The Blue Mountains Electorate, Trish Doyle Labor Party. The Blue Mountains bucked the State wide trend and dumped the sitting Liberal Member Rosa Sage out on her arse because she was doing a sh.t job. Remember John I am NOT LIBERAL. I will vote for the Party who has their electorate's best interests in mind. I have always said that.

Fair enough. Cool!!

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:40pm:

In fact Sir Last Nail, my son is a high voltage worker in the Electricity Industry, today he was given his pink slip. He told me that the grid is in good shape but that situation will go to pot when large numbers of frontline workers are culled. Like I said it is happening right now. So much for the sh.t that the Liberals pushed to get the sale over the line. And....they haven't even managed to find a buyer yet and the jobs are going already.

Cutting the bottom line to make it look a little more attractive, you reckon?  Who would vote for these idiots and thieves?

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 1:49pm:

red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining.

Are you referring to long term electricity employees or sub contractors?

I think you will find the latter is the cause of most problems.

If that's not what you are referring to then I'd suggest your persona of being a champion of human & environmental issues is false .....

no one can wear that mantle & support Tory ideals of privatisation of everything, especially essential services like electricity generation & supply.

I am referring in particular to Endeavour Energy and their plan to get rid of 130 frontline long term workers post haste. Hope that clears the air.

Gnads wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 8:05pm:

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 1:49pm: red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining. Are you referring to long term electricity employees or sub contractors? I think you will find the latter is the cause of most problems. If that's not what you are referring to then I'd suggest your persona of being a champion of human & environmental issues is false ..... no one can wear that mantle & support Tory ideals of privatisation of everything, especially essential services like electricity generation & supply.

Isn't going off grid with solar panels the ultimate form of privatization?

With growing numbers of solar panel owners demand for grid electricity is dropping which means utilities have to cut costs or raise prices. I expect that they will degrade the service to those who have solar panels and are connected to the grid.

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 1:49pm:

red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining.

Interesting story from 20 years ago. No doubt embellished in your mind over the years for dramatic effect. Do you think the polls that they didn't maintain in Victoria and subsequently started the busfires, were underground? Your kidding if you believe the underground story. The fact is the privatisation of these vital facilities to the community is utter madness. It's like handing your baby over to a peadofile for day care

ImSpartacus2 wrote on Aug 29^th, 2015 at 10:23am:

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 1:49pm: red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining. Interesting story from 20 years ago. No doubt embellished in your mind over the years for dramatic effect. Do you think the polls that they didn't maintain in Victoria and subsequently started the busfires, were underground? Your kidding if you believe the underground story. The fact is the privatisation of these vital facilities to the community is utter madness. It's like handing your baby over to a peadofile for day care

Here's another one from 1989. My builder had submitted an application for electrical connection to a new house and when it had not occurred I questioned utility company and was told that they had misplaced the application. Later I was advised that they had now found the application but that I would have to wait 4 weeks despite the fact it was the utility that was at fault and when I expressed dissatisfaction with that I was told that there was a woman with a newborn baby that had been waiting for 4 weeks.

So I faxed (faxes were modern 1989 technology) the Manager with a formal complaint and pointed out that if the media got hold of such information "a woman with a new born baby had been waiting four weeks" it would be very negative for the utility. My electricity was connected next morning which took about 15 minutes.

That is the quality of service you get from government owned electricity utilities. They don't care and they are inefficient.

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:16pm:

What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future.

Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years


If this is true it would take an idiot to fall for it. How were the government ever going to control the employment policy of an autonomous body ?

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 29^th, 2015 at 10:44am:

ImSpartacus2 wrote on Aug 29th, 2015 at 10:23am: Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 1:49pm: red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining. Interesting story from 20 years ago. No doubt embellished in your mind over the years for dramatic effect. Do you think the polls that they didn't maintain in Victoria and subsequently started the busfires, were underground? Your kidding if you believe the underground story. The fact is the privatisation of these vital facilities to the community is utter madness. It's like handing your baby over to a peadofile for day care Here's another one from 1989. My builder had submitted an application for electrical connection to a new house and when it had not occurred I questioned utility company and was told that they had misplaced the application. Later I was advised that they had now found the application but that I would have to wait 4 weeks despite the fact it was the utility that was at fault and when I expressed dissatisfaction with that I was told that there was a woman with a newborn baby that had been waiting for 4 weeks. So I faxed (faxes were modern 1989 technology) the Manager with a formal complaint and pointed out that if the media got hold of such information "a woman with a new born baby had been waiting four weeks" it would be very negative for the utility. My electricity was connected next morning which took about 15 minutes. That is the quality of service you get from government owned electricity utilities. They don't care and they are inefficient.

How?  They got your power on in fifteen minutes the next day.  You were on a list and they bumped you up when you complained.

Be careful what lists you get on - I'm expecting a visit from Border Force at 3am - Night and Fog.

red baron wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 12:40pm:

In fact Sir Last Nail, my son is a high voltage worker in the Electricity Industry, today he was given his pink slip. He told me that the grid is in good shape but that situation will go to pot when large numbers of frontline workers are culled. Like I said it is happening right now. So much for the sh.t that the Liberals pushed to get the sale over the line. And....they haven't even managed to find a buyer yet and the jobs are going already.

I'm not so sure about that. In Vic where I live one of the 22kV lines came adrift from a very old pole and when it hit the footpath went off with an almighty bang sounding like a bomb exploding. This was during a working day and if someone had have been walking at that spot they would have turned to charcoal. This old pole was in desperate need of replacement so guess what the brains trust did ? They just patched it up and left it. Not only was this pole rotten it was leaning at a very noticeable slant ready to fall down because of the uneven distribution of force from the wiring to the adjacent poles. It was a disaster waiting to happen. I reported this with photos but nothing happened. After years eventually it was replaced !!

That is what a $100 a quarter service charge gets you from private enterprise :(

Sir lastnail wrote on Aug 29^th, 2015 at 11:06am:

red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:40pm: In fact Sir Last Nail, my son is a high voltage worker in the Electricity Industry, today he was given his pink slip. He told me that the grid is in good shape but that situation will go to pot when large numbers of frontline workers are culled. Like I said it is happening right now. So much for the sh.t that the Liberals pushed to get the sale over the line. And....they haven't even managed to find a buyer yet and the jobs are going already. I'm not so sure about that. In Vic where I live one of the 22kV lines came adrift from a very old pole and when it hit the footpath went off with an almighty bang sounding like a bomb exploding. This was during a working day and if someone had have been walking at that spot they would have turned to charcoal. This old pole was in desperate need of replacement so guess what the brains trust did ? They just patched it up and left it. Not only was this pole rotten it was leaning at a very noticeable slant ready to fall down because of the uneven distribution of force from the wiring to the adjacent poles. It was a disaster waiting to happen. I reported this with photos but nothing happened. After years eventually it was replaced !! That is what a $100 a quarter service charge gets you from private enterprise :(

It just exemplifies how negligent the previous publicly-owned electricity utility was. They also had a service charge which was probably beer money for the good old boys to while away their afternoons.

Why must we Unforgiven, have to put up with your ignorant ill informed posts on a subject you know jack sh.t about?

Just can it will you, you are an embarrassment to yourself and fellow posters with the garbage you churn out on just about every subject you post on.

red baron wrote on Aug 29^th, 2015 at 12:09pm:

Why must we Unforgiven, have to put up with your ignorant ill informed posts on a subject you know jack sh.t about? Just can it will you, you are an embarrassment to yourself and fellow posters with the garbage you churn out on just about every subject you post on.

Another story form the past in 1994 when WA suffered prolonged loss of power when the publicly owned electricity utility had failed to maintain its high voltage lines which caused thousands of flashovers and pole fires when a light drizzle dampened layers of dust that had accumulated on insulators after a prolonged dry period.

A disgraceful episode in the history of WA courtesy of public ownership.

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 29^th, 2015 at 10:44am:

ImSpartacus2 wrote on Aug 29th, 2015 at 10:23am: Unforgiven wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 1:49pm: red baron wrote on Aug 28th, 2015 at 12:16pm: What a blatant, downright lie the Liberals used to push the sale of the Electricity Net through Parliament. Supposedly Rev. Fred Nile secured a 'promise' that no jobs would go before 5 years, guaranteeing workers rights. Already Integral Energy has slated 130 forced redundancies to go within the immediate future. These jobs belong, not to administrative staff who well and truly have their snouts in the trough but frontline workers who maintain the poles and wires that supply your day to day electricity supply. They are not being replaced and you can expect the maintenance of the poles  and wires to fall into disrepair just like they did in Victoria. Well...New South Wales voted for it..the sale that is and now they are going to get it...in the neck. Remember that, if you voted Liberal, when your power goes out and you can't get it back on inside a week. ;) Much of the new distribution cables are going underground where less maintenance is required. In the past electricity companies hired a load of bozos. After sending 6 trucks at one time and 2 hours of milling around in my area in 1994 they could not find the problem of intermittent interruption of supply which recurred after they left. I had to show them where the problem was after it recurred. It was a defective high voltage switch which they had not been maintaining. Interesting story from 20 years ago. No doubt embellished in your mind over the years for dramatic effect. Do you think the polls that they didn't maintain in Victoria and subsequently started the busfires, were underground? Your kidding if you believe the underground story. The fact is the privatisation of these vital facilities to the community is utter madness. It's like handing your baby over to a peadofile for day care Here's another one from 1989. My builder had submitted an application for electrical connection to a new house and when it had not occurred I questioned utility company and was told that they had misplaced the application. Later I was advised that they had now found the application but that I would have to wait 4 weeks despite the fact it was the utility that was at fault and when I expressed dissatisfaction with that I was told that there was a woman with a newborn baby that had been waiting for 4 weeks. So I faxed (faxes were modern 1989 technology) the Manager with a formal complaint and pointed out that if the media got hold of such information "a woman with a new born baby had been waiting four weeks" it would be very negative for the utility. My electricity was connected next morning which took about 15 minutes. That is the quality of service you get from government owned electricity utilities. They don't care and they are inefficient.

Do you really think exchanging stories about mishaps you have had with public authorites and mine with private enterprise proves anything. The Victorian bush fires were started by poorly maintained wires by the privatised Victorian electricity grid.  Beat that!!!! 

I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off.

Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds.

As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall.

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:25am:

I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off. Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds. As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall.

There are 4 main reasons for selling public utilities:

1. To get money to reduce government debt.

2. To create more investment opportunities for those with excess liquidity

3. To increase the access of the utility to money for development of their facilities and services

4. To make the utility more responsive to consumer demand if indeed competition is enabled or ensured in the privatization.

Red Baron needs to turn it's flagpole into a lance and find some windmills to knock down.

Someone  call for the dunny carter, Unforgiven has just cause a spill here.

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:34am:

Someone  call for the dunny carter, Unforgiven has just cause a spill here.

What the hell is a "dunny carter" and if it is a public utility why is it not privatized?

Fear not dear child. I will wipe the floor with Red Baron.

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:25am:

I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off. Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds. As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall.

And the worst of it is we will follow the Victorian experience where the grid is sold to the Singapore Govt. This is so crazy it smells of blind ideology or just down right brown paper bag dishonesty.

ImSpartacus2 wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:41am:

red baron wrote on Aug 30th, 2015 at 9:25am: I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off. Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds. As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall. And the worst of it is we will follow the Victorian experience where the grid is sold to the Singapore Govt. This is so crazy it smells of blind ideology or just down right brown paper bag dishonesty.

Is a Chinese prime minister of Australia possible?

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:47am:

ImSpartacus2 wrote on Aug 30th, 2015 at 9:41am: red baron wrote on Aug 30th, 2015 at 9:25am: I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off. Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds. As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall. And the worst of it is we will follow the Victorian experience where the grid is sold to the Singapore Govt. This is so crazy it smells of blind ideology or just down right brown paper bag dishonesty. Is a Chinese prime minister of Australia possible?

Translation: Unforgiven does not have a sensible response.

Workplace Health & Safety in the electrical trade in Australia is second to none globally. I have a son who works in the private electrical sector. If his life were to taken through the fault of under-skilled worker working under a 457 visa I would be smashing heads left, right and centre.

'Infrastructure giant Transfield will face legal action over online job advertisements seeking temporary migrants to work on some of Australia's largest electricity networks less than two months after slashing 120 jobs in Victoria.

An entire division of Victorian powerline maintenance workers and apprentices lost their jobs in June as Transfield cited a downturn in work from power distributors including SP Ausnet.

Transfield's job cuts bring the number of powerline worker redundancies in Victoria to about 400 so far this year, adding to concerns of an unemployment crisis within the industry. On Wednesday, Downer EDI began negotiations over more Victorian powerline staff lay-offs.'

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 9:32am:

red baron wrote on Aug 30th, 2015 at 9:25am: I'm just stating cold hard facts Im Spartacus...The Libs have painted how rosy it will be in the Electricity Garden now they have the green light to sell it off. Well the only thing that will be in that garden is weeds. As usual the public have been conned. Why you would want to sell of a utility that generates 2 billion dollars a year profit beats the f... out of me. Short term gain...long term pain after the Libs piss the windfall up against the wall. There are 4 main reasons for selling public utilities: 1. To get money to reduce government debt. This is stupid hand to mouth short term thinking. For the one off sale we lose annual revenue and put control of the facility into unaccountable private hands driven by the profit motive who have complete control over pricing to serve their purposes not ours. 2. To create more investment opportunities for those with excess liquidity. Since when are we here to create investment opportunities for private interests esp foreign private interests and if its a profit opportunity its because its going cheap. You know Unforgiven you really are a closet liberal. 3. To increase the access of the utility to money for development of their facilities. This is propaganda BS.  History shows that the opposite is true. Private enterprise is notorious for running down facilities for profit. Governments on the other hand have a history of properly maintaining and developing government facilities. 4. To make the utility more responsive to consumer demand if indeed competition is enabled or ensured in the privatization.More blatant propaganda BS. ACTW AGL partly privatised the ACTGrid and customer service is woeful.  At the moment the have a phone hotline. On 2 occasions I phoned them last year (not in 1990 like Unforgiven's stories) and stayed on hold for over 90 min on each occasion forced to listen to there stupid repeat message ("Your call is important to us")  only to be cut off by them without a chance to speak to anyone. And you wait. They will go the same way all private enterprise service providers are going,  where they make sure not to provide a phone number on their web site so you can't call them. Instead you have to go online to their FAQ. Like all liberals and liberal wannabes Unforgiven believes what he is told instead of what he sees before his very eyes. Customer service by private enterprise is woeful Red Baron needs to turn it's flagpole into a lance and find some windmills to knock down.

Everyone thinks its business as usual. Well it ain't. Endeavour Energy are STARTING with axing 130 frontline jobs. My son was a high voltage linesman and I can tell you they don't grow on trees. It costs $80,000 to train one up and they just him loose and he is highly qualified.

The jobs being cut are the ones that keep the poles and wires running.


I'd say at first glance when you haven't got anyone in the engine room but plenty on the bridge, then the ship is likely to be f....d as in it won't go when you press 'engines on'.

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 1:52pm:

Everyone thinks its business as usual. Well it ain't. Endeavour Energy are STARTING with axing 130 frontline jobs. My son was a high voltage linesman and I can tell you they don't grow on trees. It costs $80,000 to train one up and they just him loose and he is highly qualified. The jobs being cut are the ones that keep the poles and wires running. I'd say at first glance when you haven't got anyone in the engine room but plenty on the bridge, then the ship is likely to be f....d as in it won't go when you press 'engines on'.

Baird is a snake oil salesman and privatization is the snake oil

Australian electricity prices US $0.30 are high by world comparison.

UK US$ 0.20
USA US$ 0.08-0.17

The utilities need to be cutting costs.

Also, utilities will be shedding their own staff and hiring contractors at agreed rates for defined packages of work. This gives more control over costs and productivity.

Red Baron's son should be heading to WA or Queensland where the opportunities are.

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 3:17pm:

Australian electricity prices US $0.30 are high by world comparison. UK US$ 0.20 USA US$ 0.08-0.17 The utilities need to be cutting costs. Also, utilities will be shedding their own staff and hiring contractors at agreed rates for defined packages of work. This gives more control over costs and productivity.

So does operating under awards...

Read a book on the Japanese economy some years ago, and a lot of it is based on small contracting firms doing all the hard yards - in the event the economy takes a nose dive - it is always those small firms that go under or do it hard while the big boys float above it.

What have we learned about economies in the past thirty years or so?  Absolutely nothing....

Why does everyone continue with the myth that the Fair
Work Commission will sign off on a deal that proves less than Award conditions - it's in its marching orders to NOT do that - putting the lie to the whole thing.

A proliferation of contractors as opposed to a core workforce leads inevitably to higher overall costs due to multiplication of business costs etc, and greater risk for those contractors, and through them, to their employees.

Unless the principal contractors are willing to take a bath in their payments, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Good service on essentials is not up for dollars.

Couldn't have put it better myself I'm Spartacus2. Baird is being hailed a Messiah but he is all smoke and mirrors. There will be a very, very heavy price to pay for this 'snake oil' salesman's selling up of New South Wales.

The 'Grinning Assassin' as a perfect name for this bloke.

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 3:17pm:

Australian electricity prices US $0.30 are high by world comparison. UK US$ 0.20 USA US$ 0.08-0.17 The utilities need to be cutting costs. Also, utilities will be shedding their own staff and hiring contractors at agreed rates for defined packages of work. This gives more control over costs and productivity. Red Baron's son should be heading to WA or Queensland where the opportunities are.

All self interested propaganda cr@p. This is the same sh!t they were pedaling with Enron and then surprise surprise, its all BS and the public purse is left to pay to clean up the mess. Privatization inevitably costs the public more because profit and not service is the solitary  aim of the owners

Nobody is entitled to a job and no one is entitled to employment for their lifetime by one employer.

Workers have to evolve.

If Red Baron's son whined less and took this as an opportunity instead of a misfortune he would evolve into a better person and a better job.

Red Baron stop your whining and move on.

Your son should examine other states and industries and even consider emigrating to USA where there are probably shortages of people with his skills.

Unforgiven wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 3:45pm:

Nobody is entitled to a job and no one is entitled to employment for their lifetime by one employer. Workers have to evolve. If Red Baron's son whined less and took this as an opportunity instead of a misfortune he would evolve into a better person and a better job. Red Baron stop your whining and move on. Your son should examine other states and industries and even consider emigrating to USA where there are probably shortages of people with his skills.

Indeed.

Take the Monty Python approach, and always look on the bright side of life.

Forget the door that's closing - look for another one that can be prised opened.

Look at Jeremy Clarkson, for example.

He was pissed off when he got the sack from Top Gear, but it was a blessing in disguise.

"JEREMY Clarkson will become Britain’s highest-paid TV host when his pay rolls in for his new Amazon Prime series."

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/jeremy-clarkson-to-be-uks-highest-paid-tv-host/story-e6frfmyi-1227503645840

My son will survive but the New South Wales Electricity Grid is as doomed as the Dinosaurs.

And Unforgiven...when the lights go out...and they will...I frigging hope they go out first at your house..Then you can do all the whining you like!

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 4:06pm:

My son will survive but the New South Wales Electricity Grid is as doomed as the Dinosaurs. And Unforgiven...when the lights go out...and they will...I frigging hope they go out first at your house..Then you can do all the whining you like!

I will consider it an opportunity to become independent.

By that I take it you will become a candle maker ;D ;D ;D

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 4:17pm:

By that I take it you will become a candle maker ;D ;D ;D

Why? I can buy Chinese candles for a few cents each.

I can also buy a bunch of Chinese equipment to liberate me from the grid.

Like that will work ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

red baron wrote on Aug 30^th, 2015 at 4:40pm:

Like that will work ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I could hire a few ex-linesmen and pedal powered generators.

Matchmaker matchmaker make me a match...find me a find...catch me a catch...Unforgiven is blowing smoke once more ;D ;D ;D