Cotton Australia has made a plea to government to stop hiking electricity prices
June 3, 2013
Cotton Australia has appealed for the Queensland Government to stop hiking electricity prices.
Cotton Australia, which last week celebrated achievement throughout the industry’s supply chain, has called for relief for irrigators facing another electricity price rise.
The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) last week determined an electricity price increase of 20 percent for some irrigators.
Cotton Australia Queensland Policy Manager Michael Murray says electricity for irrigators
has blown out by more than 250 percent since 2000, which he says is ‘simply unsustainable’.
“These rises are completely unjustifiable, given annual inflation has been pegged around three percent per annum,”
Murray says.
“There is something very, very wrong with a system that – year after year – awards price hikes far above CPI.”
The industry hopes relief will be provided in the upcoming Queensland Budget.
The call follows Cotton Australia’s recent celebration of industry award finalists.
Finalists for the tenth annual 2013 Australian Cotton Industry Awards – which recognise excellence in the industry throughout its supply chain, from growers and ginners to product suppliers, consultants, agronomists and researchers – were announced last week.