Secrecy is an anathema for democracy

CLEAN water and effective sewerage systems are an important matter of public health. It is critical that whoever manages these things does it effectively at the lowest cost to consumers.

If the State Government wishes to see quicker, more expansive development of these systems for all Tasmania, then they should find another way to help. For the life of me, I can’t see the logic of agreeing to the State Government taking over TasWater. Consider the debacle of the management of our Hydro elec- tric scheme over the generations of political parties. Deciding to build dams to provide clean energy was a brilliant idea. The ongoing management, over all these years, is at best suspect. It seems the Hydro continuously clocks up masses of debt, that is added to already high debt, and yet they dabble. This does not serve Tasmanians.

Where is the accountability? The State Government can and does require dividends from the Hydro coffer that we fill up with our electricity bills. This is taxation without representation because the Hydro Board holds only top secret meetings.

Tasmanians are locked out of the decision making. The only outlet we consumers have is the media, but little facts about what is really going on because of the high level of secrecy around the policies and projects and aims and goals of the Hydro. One could ask, what are they hiding?