Government's $130 billion fire sale

Treasurer Joe Hockey. Source: Supplied

 

THE government is preparing for a $130 billion sell-off of assets ranging from Medibank Private to electricity poles in its quest for much-needed cash. 

Treasurer Joe Hockey today told the Wall Street Journal he would reach agreements with premiers on what to sell and how in a wideranging privatisation program.

“We are going to free up the capacity to get on with the job of building things,” Mr. Hockey told WSJ.

“We’re going to form a partnership with the states that is going to be rolled out over the next few months, which is hugely exciting, and involves potentially massive transactions that will get the place moving.”

Money from the sales would go to job-creating infrastructure, which could include a second airport for Sydney.

The revelation of the sell-off came as the Labor Opposition used Parliament to accuse the Government of killing off jobs.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said 54,000 full-time jobs had disappeared since Tony Abbott became Prime Minister. He calculated this last one job disappearing every three minutes.

Full details of the privatisation are expected to be revealed in the May Budget.

“There is potentially $130 billion in privatizable assets in Australia, maybe more,” Mr. Hockey told the WSJ.

He said likely candidates for sale would include utilities and transport networks as well as the health insurer Medibank Private, which analysts believe could be worth up to $4 billion.

“From my perspective, the sooner we get out of running businesses the better,” said Mr. Hockey.

 news.com.au 12 Feb 2014

Some of the general populous may believe that politicians are 'public servants', subservient to a government, therefore it's people.

The facts are VERY different, to what the masses would be led to believe.

Politicians are NOT public servants, but rather corporate entities, subservient to corporations, where their policies totally benefit the business community.

As a result their positions are a conflict of interest, but this is hardly mentioned, by the corporate media, and totally ignored in decision and policy making.