Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here today to fight against Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his LNP government, who want to sell Queensland energy assets. We have the former premier, Campbell Newman, reincarnated as Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In yesterday's Courier-Mail it was revealed that the Morrison LNP government could force the sale of state-owned electricity generators. The direct quote from the Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, was:

The Queensland state-owned generators are on notice.

If the LNP Morrison government want to make threats like that, then let me tell them: they are on notice for a huge fight. If the LNP want to start a war with Queensland, they have got one, because we are not going to sell our assets. Again, in question time yesterday Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to rule out introducing new laws that would allow for the forced privatisation of Queensland's energy generators. The Queensland government is reinvesting more than $1 billion a year of returns from energy assets into lower prices. These returns would go interstate or offshore if the power assets were sold by the LNP.

For five years under this government there has been no national energy policy, and now the only energy policy that can be produced is to sell Queensland's assets—a typical response from the LNP: privatise and sell assets. This will only lead to higher electricity prices. It shows how clueless and out of touch the LNP are with Queensland. Queensland's assets are now under attack. I will vote tooth and nail against privatisation of our energy assets. (Time expired)