Mums and dads, grandparents, the sick and elderly are being asked to ration their electricity use this Summer by Queensland’s Labor Government.
Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson spoke out in Parliament yesterday to condemn the Palaszczuk Government’s Summer Preparedness Plan which asks Queenslanders to set their air conditioners to 26 degrees or above to avoid blackouts.
“What has Queensland come to?” Ms Simpson said.
“What has this great state come to when people are being told, 'Get ready! You may have blackouts because there may not be enough supply'?
“Who would have thought that we would see this in Queensland?
“Labor cannot build the roads that Queensland needs; they cannot build the dams that this state needs; and they certainly cannot manage the rail services.
“Now under the guise of this glossy Summer Preparedness Plan the truth is exposed: they cannot manage power.”
Ms Simpson quoted from Labor’s Summer Preparedness Plan which states:
“If the demand for electricity is greater than the available supply, there is no choice but to reduce demand or else the entire system can fail. By working together as a community to reduce our electricity use during peak times, we can help keep reliable electricity supply on for everyone.”
“In other words,” Ms Simpson said, “Mums and dads, grandparents, the sick and the elderly are being asked by this inept Labor Government to ration their electricity use and they are being told that it is their fault if the power goes out not the Government’s.
“Reliable power is the job of government! It should be the job of a First World government, but this Labor Government is acting like a Third World government, and to boot they are trying to blame the public.
Ms Simpson said we are paying record prices for electricity under this Labor Government who has given us record wholesale electricity price hikes, loaded debt onto the power companies and is ripping out 100 per cent dividends.
“As has been shown in the past, Premier Peter Beattie ripped out record dividends as a tax by stealth from these government owned entities, which ended up in blackouts and brownouts under Labor,” Ms Simpson said.
“The only thing that is reliable about Labor in Queensland is that they are not reliable.
“They seem to know how to muck up the power system and they seem to know how to muck up the supply of water.
“We have seen it time and time again, and we here we go again!”
To view a video clip of my speech in Parliament go to: http://tv.parliament.qld.gov.au/?reference=0Mba20171012_182358
