Plug Pulled On Power Play

EDITORIAL THURSDAY 280808

Plug Pulled On Power Play

Well, it’s time to start stocking up on the candles. In a few short years the lights in New South Wales are going to go out. For months now, the Premier, the Treasure, and various business leaders have all been screaming about the dire threat to future electricity supplies if the plan to privatize the industry failed to proceed. Repeatedly they used the expression “the lights will go out”. And now, Barry O’Farrell has had the temerity to oppose the plan and vote it down in the Parliament. Oh dear.

Candles, glowsticks, kerosene lanterns, will all become highly sought after items now as the people of New South Wales prepare themselves for technological Armageddon. Consumers will fight each other to the death in the supermarket aisles over the last available Duracells for their camping lights. Civilization as we know it is about to break down beyond all repair. What ever could have possessed Barry O’Farrell to be the cause of such devastation.

Now wait a minute. Surely we’ve all been missing something here. Whether or not it might have been in the best interests of the State for Morris Iemma’s plan to proceed, there is no way any government will allow the supply of electricity to fail. What happens now is that the Government is forced into a position where it must deal with the issue instead of avoiding it, as it has so far.

Ultimately, it would be in keeping with Liberal Party philosophy to privatize the industry. But the prospect of ravaging the Premier’s credibility has proven to be a far more attractive proposition for the opposition. Of course, this has come at a price. There have been indications that many in the business community might drop their support for Barry O’Farrell as a result of this decision. That support will be important to the Liberal Party when the election draws near.

The gamble that the opposition leader is taking is that he still has almost three years up his sleeve to mend those fences, and formulate his own privatization plan. There's no reason why that shouldn't work... after all, who else is there who could lead the Liberal Party in New South Wales?