Politics mire energy fixes
POLITICS was fuelling the energy crisis faced by families and businesses, Advance Cairns heard yesterday.
Elizabeth Proust, Australian Institute of Company Directors’ chairwoman, told an Advance Cairns members’ breakfast yesterday that Australia could remain in “perpetual crisis” over energy.
“There was little evidence of bipartisanship on this crucial issue,” she said.
“For too long, short-term ‘fixes’ have been prioritised over the development of durable, long-term solutions.
“In what seems to have been a blink of the eye, Australia has gone from having the world’s cheapest energy to among the expensive.”
Advance Cairns chief executive Nick Trompf said the speech was particularly relevant to Cairns.
“Energy is the great issue for businesses and consumers up here,” he said.
“We are more vulnerable because we have more power transmission than other parts of the state.”
Mr Trompf said the power bills of one Advance Cairns member skyrocketed from $750,000 to $2 million in the last decade.
“It is a crisis that affects mums and dads and the profitability of small and large businesses,” he said.
“It has become one of the big three expenses along with rent and staff.” world’s most
Ms Proust argued that “people power” was the way to break through the quagmire of partisan politics.
Her speech coincides with calls for public submissions about power bills to be logged with the Queensland Electricity Users Network at qeun.com.au
The QEUN is collating posts to present to the Queensland Competition Authority and argue for lower power bills.
The QCA formulates power prices for regional Queensland and has given an April 9 deadline for submissions regarding prices for 2018-2019.
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