Watkins Privatisation Defence Continues to Unravel 
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| Thursday, 17 January 2008 | ||||||
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The Deputy Premier and Minister for Finance seized on the words ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ used by Mr Baird in a radio interview to claim the State Opposition is in support of the Iemma Government’s flawed privatisation bid. “The simple message to John Watkins is do your homework before you issue a press release,” Mr Baird said. “At the same time how can he defend a policy that he has opposed inside the party room or is his hope that the privatisation bid fails so he can take the deputy out of his title? “If John Watkins had bothered to listen to the interview himself he would have heard my views were simply that if privatisation goes ahead, which is dependent upon the Iemma Government, then the people of NSW would have a management team overseeing a transaction that would only happen once. “There would be no second chance to secure the best price for the assets and ongoing protections for the consumers of NSW. “The point I was making was that if privatisation goes ahead the people of NSW would have their future electricity service, together with proceeds from the sale, tied to the performance of the Iemma Government management team. “The same people that delivered the Cross City Tunnel debacle and the mismanagement of Royal North Shore Hospital would be overseeing a multi-billion transaction for us. There would be no second chance. "The track record shows there is every reason the people of NSW should be concerned about this transaction and the ability of the Iemma Government to deliver the best results for the people of NSW,” Mr Baird said MEDIA: Lisa Harrington - 0406 726 880 Add to:          Write Comment
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