7 News

An exclusive Seven News investigation has revealed the State Government was considering selling state assets six months before the state election, despite denials it was pre-planned.

Anna Bligh didn’t unveil plans to privatise $15 billion worth of publicly owned entities until after Queenslanders re-elected her. Since then, both the Premier and her senior ministers have steadfastly rejected suggestions they were planning the fire-sale before last March’s election.

An exclusive Seven News freedom of information investigation tested the Premier’s claim that she “didn’t have a secret plan” to sell off state-owned assets. That investigation revealed the Queensland government was warned six months before last year’s election that it might have to sell off public assets to deal with mounting debt levels.

On Monday night, Seven News revealed that a cabinet discussion paper, dated October 2008, warned senior ministers, including the Premier, that Queensland’s coffers were facing “high rising debt levels”, with “no capacity for repayment”.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHGXvUVvZek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i73mBc10t58

Filed under: Privatisation, Queensland State News Tagged: Bligh knew about asset sales before election