The move to set up a committee to investigate the funding of ACT public-sector superannuation was little more than a ploy to delay the sale of the electricity element of Actew. Chief Minister Kate Carnell has linked the two, saying that the proceeds of the sale would be used to pay out the unfunded superannuation. The aim of the inquiry is to see if the superannuation can be paid another way.
Obviously it can; through debt or subsequent years’ budgeting. It is difficult to see how much can be achieved by the inquiry. Certainly no member of the major parties or Green Kerrie Tucker will be swayed from their fixed positions. Michael Moore is likely to vote with the Government. Trevor Kaine should vote for the sale if he sticks to his private-enterprise ethic, but his vote could go anywhere. In any event it will not be swayed by this inquiry. The two Osborne Independents are uneasy with the sale of Actew, so the inquiry will give them some breathing space and may help show the public the severity of the ACT’s future financial problems.
Unfortunately, the delay is only likely to erode the value of Actew. As it stands it has a good customer list that is slowly being eroded by the opening of a competitive market in electricity across Australia. For practical purposes it would be better to sell to a private operator which can engage in risk-taking not available to government.
One of the most significant elements to a privatisation would be that the Government would be a regulator at arm’s length from the competitive providers. It would be just like gas supply in Canberra. No-one is suggesting that gas supply should be bought by the Government. It would be an outrageous misallocation of resources. As is the tying up of assets in Actew when they could be used to reduce superannuation debt.