Put Victoria first

The Saturday Age 20 August 2011, Page: 23

 Ted Baillieu has shown himself to be a Liberal politician first, Victorian Premier second. Bizarrely, the Deloitte "research" he presented didn't include the generous compensation for consumers or for Victoria's brown coal-fired power sector. It was a textbook example of the way the Coalition will misuse information to get the headlines it wants. Instead of jumping on Tony Abbott's bandwagon, Baillieu should be facing up to the fact that Victoria has one of the dirtiest power generation sectors in the developed world.

As emissions begin to be priced around the world, the financial burden of running stations like Hazelwood power station and Yallourn W power station will only increase. Having reneged on his commitment to reduce Victoria's emissions by 20% by 2020, and with his stymieing of wind farms, Baillieu no longer has a strategy to deal with climate change.

 Andrew Bray, Ballarat