So the Baird LNP government has announced its intentions to lease 100 per cent of the state’s only 

electricity transmission company, Transgrid, and 50.3 per cent of two of the three distributors, Ausgrid and Endeavor. 

Some time ago the Liberal Party struck a deal with the National Party to sell 49 per cent of the state’s electricity assets, including those mentioned and excluding Essential Energy. 

Well, it seems that this deal is not only quite deceptive, but it also does not benefit the people of NSW.

Firstly, it is disingenuous to include the asset value of Essential Energy into their calculations. 

One hundred per cent plus 50.3 per cent plus 50.3 per cent divided by three does not equals 49 per cent – it equals 66.87 per cent of these combined assets. 

Everyone knows the idea of only selling 49 per cent is to retain the controlling share, but Baird wants to give away the people of NSW’s controlling share.

Secondly, who benefits from the LNP giving up control of these assets with an income stream of over one billion dollars? 

The foreign countries that buy it obviously recognise the value of their purchase. 

Sydney will also have ten billion dollars of new infrastructure, before it’s all gone. 

Also, Baird’s merchant banker mates will benefit to the tune of a couple of hundred million to facilitate the sale.

The benefactors will all be people from the big end of town, but not the people of NSW.

Thirdly, we have been led to believe by The Nationals that a third of the sale money will be spent in the bush and that Essential Energy will not be sold. 

How can we believe this whenThe Nationals have already misled us about only 49 per cent being up for grabs? 

There are two possibilities here –  either the Nationals have been duped by the Liberals or they are in on the ruse. 

One way to be sure you are also not duped is to vote for anyone but the LNP at the state election in March.

Finally, the McKell Institute, an independent not-for-profit public policy institute, released a report into the proposed privatisation of electricity infrastructure in December 2014 that unequivocally condemns the proposal.

It critically notes that previous studies have failed to factor in the physical size of the networks. 

When size is considered the report found that private operators were under-performing relative to their publicly owned counterparts, including NSW.

It also found that if NSW proceeds with the sale it will effectively be selling a stable, recurrent revenue steam in order to produce new assets with recurrent liabilities attached to them. 

It is akin to selling a well performing rental property to buy a nice car that costs money to run and produces no income.

The report also estimates that electricity prices under privatization are likely to increase by about $350 per annum. 

Mike Baird is a self-confessed supporter of the McKell Institute, yet continues to try and con The Nationals and the people of NSW.

The Labor Party, The Greens and the Shooters and Fishers Party are refusing to support the sale and are campaigning against it as a major policy platform for the upcoming State election. 

The Christian Democrats refuse to announce a position at the time of writing and are basically sitting on the fence until after the election.

The Nationals are at risk of surrendering seats to the Shooters and Fishers, Labor, Greens and independents all because they continue to lick the boots of their Liberal Party masters instead of faithfully representing their constituents. 

The people of NSW, particularly people in rural and regional NSW, do not want their electricity assets sold.