Labor moves to lock Victoria into public electricity commission

afr.com:

Labor will move to enshrine the State Electricity Commission in Victoria’s Constitution to head off what it says is the threat of a future Coalition government abolishing it.

SEC Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Wednesday said legislation would be put to the Victorian lower house within days to enshrine the body, which was revived by former premier Daniel Andrews last year to be a centrepiece of Labor’s ambitious clean energy plans for the state.

It marked a reversal of electricity sector privatisation started by the Kennett government in the 1990s.

Victorian SEC Minister Lily D’Ambrosio is adamant the revived body will bring down power prices.  Simon Schluter

But the move requires a 60 per cent majority of both houses and will likely be shot down in the upper house, which is made up of 15 Labor MPs, 13 Coalition MPs and 12 crossbenchers, including four Greens.

Labor would need nine votes from the crossbench – which in August voted unanimously with the Coalition to hold an inquiry into the cancellation of theCommonwealth Games – to pass the SEC legislation.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto has previously said he would consider scrapping the SEC if the Coalition won the next election.

“This will be a test and a demonstration of whose interests the Liberal Party serve, and whether they’ve actually learnt anything over these decades of privatisation,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.

“The only fear Victorians should have is of a future Liberal government ever getting their hands on the SEC and destroying it again.

“Public ownership is good because it’s about Victorians having some ownership of the electricity system. The profits that it makes will go back into creating more renewable energy, more supply, making it cheaper, and creating 59,000