During Parliamentary Budget Estimates on Tuesday 2 August 2022, I asked about the public ownership of Queensland's energy system.
You can read the answers below or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: Director-General, at estimates last year the director-general reported that the proportion of our electricity generation sector which was publicly owned was 66 per cent. Can you give us an update on the current figure?
Mr Martyn: The figure in 2021-22 was 65 per cent.
Mr BERKMAN: That is a decline of one per cent.
Mr Martyn: That is right, yes, due to additional renewables coming in, non-government owned.
Mr BERKMAN: Indeed. Given the government’s stated policy of retaining a majority of public ownership, we could reasonably expect that proportion to continue to fall potentially to as low as 50 per cent; is that correct?
CHAIR: You are seeking an opinion there too, member.
Mr Martyn: I think it is important to say that, because the government has over the course of the last financial year and in the budget announced significant new investments in renewables through the government-owned energy sector, that is a countervailing force in terms of that percentage. I do not think I can assume that at all.
Mr BERKMAN: The question, though, is that within current government policy it could drop as low as 51 per cent.
CHAIR: You are really seeking opinion there.
Mr Martyn: As a public servant, I am not here to comment on opinion.