Electricity is Not a Luxury or an Optional Extra

Electricity is Not a Luxury or an Optional Extra

According to our Constitution, electricity is a publicly owned utility. It is an essential service vital to our standard of living and in our harsh climate to our very survival. That this essential service is allowed to be unlawfully sold off to private enterprise is an act of treason. Australians were deceived when Governments committed to selling off their essential services without a referendum, saying it would lead to greater competition and lower prices. Now welfare agencies report an epidemic of Australians having their power cut because they cannot pay their bill. As of 2007 there were 18,000 households in NSW alone disconnected from their electricity supply and more than 22,000 disconnected from gas.

One Nation warns that the worst is yet to come. The Courier Mail Jan. 1, 2010 reported, “The wholesale price of electricity will more than double within two years and triple in the next two decades under the Rudd Government's plans to tackle climate change.” Recent welfare agency research into those seeking emergency assistance with their energy bills across six Emergency Relief Centres in greater metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands shows that single parents with children (44 per cent) were predominantly the ones seeking assistance. Children were also found to reside in 60 per cent of all households included in the study.

It also revealed that while many relied on Government benefits, most households weren't on unemployment benefits and were not overly high users of energy. The vast majority were carers, single mothers, pensioners and those with disabilities: most came to Anglicare struggling to pay an energy bill of $300 or less.

If this continues many will die in the winter and summer months and our struggling health system will be inundated with those suffering from pneumonia and heat stroke. This will mainly consist of the elderly, infirm and very young.

In the meantime, of course, it will remain warm in winter and cool in summer in the halls of Parliament House.

It is a core policy and a mandate of One Nation to restore to the Australian people their assets and security.