Help us tell the court what electricity consumers really think

The tipping point at which higher price means less sales = less profits has been passed. You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to work out that. Why do the "clever CEO's" who calculate cost+profit/buyer resistance, need advice from us mugs down here at the consumer level? Why are we being sold the lie about privatising (illegally selling what belongs to the people to world wide money conglomerates) being in our long term interest? Our governments are washing their hands of their responsibility to the people by bowing to the "back room powers" to slowly bring about the ability of a future power to totally control every aspect of life and living. Every sell-off/privatisation removes another piece of freedom and democracy. We are blind frogs sitting in the barmy warm water, being led by politicians with no sense of what is possibly just a few years away. Take note Mike Baird, if you honestly don't know - ask your father. CW 

Ken, I wasn't having a go at Tony Abbott, I believe that he is doing the best he can under these circumstances. I would never vote for Bill Shorten, Labor has ruined this wonderful country of ours for the third time in my memory, keep going Tony, and if you can lower my power bill as well, I will be forever grateful. 

Given the electricity networks bring the state government an income of at least $1.7 billion a year, economists argue it would make more financial sense to hang on to them and fund the new infrastructure by borrowing at record low interest rates (currently as low as 2 per cent p.a.). While some economists believe that privatisation is a good idea, both sides of the fence agree the ‘asset recycling’ line was a political ruse to appeal to the electorate rather than a solid argument based on fact. And given the federal government is actively encouraging states to ‘recycle assets’ through its $5 billion ‘asset recycling fund’, this issue could affect all Australians over the next few years. Before going into politics, Mr Baird worked as an investment banker at NAB – a bank that specialises in funding private infrastructure projects, which may give him a pro-privatisation bias.Professor John Quiggin, an economist at the University of Queensland, says the notion of ‘asset recycling’ is “dishonest” because the proceeds from the sale will be used “to build things that won’t generate an income”, such as roads, hospitals and schools. “The government then has to find a way of replacing the income lost from the assets, so they’re no better off than if they’d funded the new proposal using debt,” he says. “There is a very sharp cultural divide between the big end of town – the people who work in the CBD, business people, the finance sector, politicians of both parties who want privatisation even though they don’t always know why – and essentially everybody else who hates privatisation,” says Professor Quiggin. [1 of 2] .../... 

The cost of power, not a luxury but a vital commodity, is exorbitant. Rises in tariffs seem to be quite frequent, and not in small percentages; plus, of course, the attendant extra GST. On a personal level, my bills have increased in the past two-three years by an average of between 65% to 70%. I am an age pensioner living alone (fortunately in public housing). Since only two electrical devices run constantly (fridge and hot water), nothing not then in use is left on standby or even plugged in, and my usage pattern has not changed, I feel an increase of this extent to be quite unreasonable. I have noticed though, that "service charges" have more than doubled - how can this be when I live in an 18 unit property and every unit shares these "services" charges? I have enquired but received only gobbledy-gook in reply. I had to be away for almost two years recently and had left everything turned off, but still received bills of $65.00 to $70.00 odd each quarter. More gobbledy-gook when queried. Added to this, consumers now being lumbered with virtually every cost increase in every sort of business from banks to bakeries, when their tariffs increase, guess who pays for them as well? The pitiful bleatings of "we cannot absorb new costs and will have to pass them on (in full) to the consumer", especially from entities such as banks with their multi-BILLION dollar profits, is totally unconscionable. Unfair for everyone, but especially stressful to anyone on a small fixed income since we have to pick up, not only each tariff increase itself, but also many other price rises subsequent upon them. Of course, this deplorable practice is common now; very noticeable in food and grocery outlets such as Coles and Woolworths. If only our utterly cretinous federal parliament and its original flat-earther boss-man could assemble more than half an ounce of brain power and common sense between them and set about developing alternative power sources, the better off we would all be. 

I don't understand how pensioners can pay rent and afford electricity or gas. I'd love to have them both disconnected from the grid. Maybe I can find a landlord who has already fitted adequate solar power. 

We already do everything we can to reduce our bill but it still goes up. All that remains is to have it disconnected and survive on portable gas only for cooking. There is no gas line in our street for heating. Thanks to FiftyUp club for fighting for us. 

I live in a 2 bedroom unit & so far have not had any problems paying my bills. I have now retired & hopefully this situation will continue. I would count myself as a low electricity/utilities user however when I look back over the years, electricity bills & other utilities bills have been steadily increasing. I must also say that we rarely have any blackouts -if they do occur it is generally a problem with a substation or suchlike. Christine from NSW 

I live in one of the cold areas of NSW and cannot afford to run my heater, gas or air-con, without going without food. 

Pensioners are particularly hard hit by the recent price rises over the last few years, as they have at the same time suffered a reduction in their income and huge rises in electricity costs. Governments ignore this large voting block at their peril!! Margaret from NSW 

Politicians only care about pensioners and the poor at election time especially if they are in a marginal seat and every vote counts and the unions are only interested keeping the members funds coming in so they keep Labor in the money