PRESS RELEASE

Grey Power National President, Mr Graham Stairmand, today stated "If Bill English wants his Party to be the Government after the next election, he needs to forget any form of privatisation of SOEs. This will seal the fate of the National Party with his latest announcement of intentions to partially sell off the remaining SOEs. The Labour Party must be rubbing their hands with glee as indicated by Helen Clark’s response. Nobody will be naïve enough to believe that this is not going to be a step to full privatisation."

"This proposal will ensure that none of the 500,000 domestic electricity consumers that are struggling monthly with their bills will be voting for them. In addition, it can be expected that there will be a high proportion of the remaining 1,500,000 consumers who as concerned citizens, will recognise what a retrograde step this would be."

"The much vaunted improved efficiencies to come from the reformations of the supply industry, have not eventuated in the last fifteen years, as far as domestic consumers are concerned. Domestic prices have escalated rapidly since those reforms at a much greater rate than the COL index. Even the more astute of the affluent consumers are now querying the unjustified increases in prices."

"It is a basic fact that the New Zealand energy market is too small to be fully competitive. The whole question has been reviewed time and again by experts and none have come up with a solution to make the market work in this country. Our members already have difficulty in paying their electricity bills. In fact, the major concern of our members is the price of electricity to the extent that 60% of the members go to bed early to keep warm - a sad indictment on the caring society for the elderly."

"New Zealand is currently looking at as yet unspecified increases resulting from carbon trading, which could be anywhere from 1c to 5c per kWh depending on the carbon price. It could increase costs by up to 25 or 30 per cent, bringing an average monthly bill for a low user up to around $250 a month. How can a superannuitant trying to live on $923 a month possibly pay that much and still pay the rent and food bills?".

"The future looks extremely bleak in every sense of the word for New Zealand electricity consumers."

ENDS

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