The Queensland Government has ruled out the privatisation of any of its electricity assets ‘unless it has a mandate from voters.’

 

State Minister for Energy and Water Supply Mark McArdle said that selling its power assets would result in Queensland taxpayers losing over $1.5 billion through ‘massive devaluations of electricity assets due to the Carbon Tax.

 

Mr McArdle said that the coal fired power stations, through which the state derives almost 60 per cent of the Queensland-Government owned generating capacity, have been significantly devalued as a result of the introduction of the Carbon Tax.

 

Mr McArdle also took the opportunity to take a swipe at Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s ‘grandstanding’ over calls to control inflating electricity prices, which she likened to ‘this generation’s petrol prices’.