By Bronwen Beechey
ADELAIDE — The privatisation of the Electricity Trust of South Australia looks certain to go ahead following ALP legislative councillor Trevor Crothers' announcement on June 3 that he has come to an agreement with Liberal Premier John Olsen on the issue.
Crothers will support the leasing of ETSA in return for "guarantees" that ETSA workers will be redeployed or offered voluntary separation packages and that the $186 power bill levy introduced in the recent state budget is scrapped. Crothers said he would resign from the ALP.
Crothers said he was "acting in the best interests of the state" and that SA's "desperate" financial situation could only be solved by the long-term lease of ETSA.
Terry Cameron, another former ALP parliamentarian, crossed the floor over the issue last year. Since then, the Liberals have been desperately trying to win over the remaining independent and Democrat MLCs and undermine widespread opposition to the ETSA sale by bringing in the power bill levy.
Many trade union leaders have condemned Crothers' decision. Rick Newland, state secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, told the June 3 rally against the government's proposed changes to industrial relations laws: "He will rot in hell. If he defies the background he came from he is a dog ... not fit to eat with us, not fit to stand with us, and we remind him that there will be no farewell for that bastard."
State secretary of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), Bob Donnelly, told Green Left Weekly that despite Crothers' claim that he had forced the government to protect ETSA workers, he had refused to consult with any unions before deciding to support the lease.
The CEPU and the seven other unions covering ETSA workers had requested an urgent meeting with the government to discuss the deal. "If it doesn't specifically say there will be no forced redundancies, there will be a blue", Donnelly said. "The suggestion that workers will be redeployed to other state government departments is complete nonsense, because the government has already told us that they are cutting staff in all areas."
On Crothers' claim that the leasing of ETSA for 20 years, as opposed to selling it outright, was acceptable, Donnelly said: "The lease is just a sale under another name. In 20 years, what is going to be left to give back? ETSA belongs to the people of SA, not to the government to be given away."