The Asians were crazy to try and take over Australia in 1941 using bullets and bayonets. If they had waited until 2013 and come down with their cheque books, Jonathon Ariel would have sold them the whole place.

...Australians are being "led by the nose" straight into a trap...Then again what is an Australian? Lets simply give all Chinese with financial interests in Australia, Australian citizenship...That solves the problem of foreign ownership: It also solves the problem of four out of every ten property sales in Australia ending in Chinese hands as well....All in the name of Multiculturalism... Trust British paints..Rat-a Tat-Tat...Sure Can.

Bronte you said:

“Are you seriously saying that we should allow the Chinese or any other foreign group to take control of our power stations?

It will be a case of "poor fellow, my country" if we let foreigners control our water and power”.

Bronte, the question we should ask is "why must NSW taxpayers have billions locked up in power stations when those funds can be released and be used to fund more essential activities like police, fire and ambulances"?

I am not proposing to let any future owner of MacGen do what he wants with the asset. ANY owner regardless of domicile would have to operate the facility subject to NSW regulations and laws.

As to your point on the privatisation of Sydney Airport, I agree with you. That was very poorly handled by the Howard gov’t. As was PJ Keating’s sale of Australian Airlines to the near monopolist (Qantas).

Surely the answer is not “no privatisations” but rather “privatisations that serve the taxpayers’ interests. The NSW taxpayers in this case.

If it cannot be shown that taxpayers are better off with a privatisation then it should not go ahead.

I have worked on NSW power stations and switchyards, JJA, and I have seen with my own eyes the blatant drunkenness, featherbedding, and over manning of ELCOM assets. If you want to privatise this industry, then go right ahead. One good reason why I stopped advocating Socialism, was because I realised that if ELCOM was a reflection of socialist efficiency, no wonder the USSR was just Botswanaland with a ICBM's and a space program.

My beef is with selling these crucial assets to a country which just happens to be a potential enemy. The Chinese have a different idea to western people when it comes to commerce. Anything which makes a buck is OK. I personally think that if we give every asset we have to the Chinese, they will run the places only for the benefit of the Chinese, and they will not make much notice of our employment or taxation laws.

I have not seen any non Chinese working in Chinese reastaurants,. and one suspects that if we give our power stations to Chinese control, sooner or later every employee of these power stations will be Chinese. We will no have a clue what they are being paid, because every one of them will be a new immigrant who will sign his contract in China. There was one incident on a "Chinese" building site in Sydney, where a Chinese worker was badly hurt. His own employer's goons snatched him from hospital and stuck him on the first Cathay Pacific flight headed for China. He was still wearing his hospital pyjamas.

Workers form China are cheap, if you don't bother with things like workers comp., holiday pay or leave loadings.

The tradition of al Asians to never put their money in the bank so that governments can monitor your taxable income, is another indicator that Asians are not to be trusted with the responsibility of critical Australian infrastructure. The ENRON scandal in the USA is indicative of how dangerous it is to give people who have no concept of western morality a free hand in Australia

This is becoming a useful discussion.

All very well to let the Chinese take control of our water, our power stations,
, our land. Why should they support any of our traditional values . There are enough stories now about people locked up without trial and workers working for a pittance.

Meanwhile the Chinese are buying up large chunks
of land in Sydney and Melbourne. And installing their kids in houses near selective schools.. Something I 've seen with my own eyes.

When the Chinese tip you out of your houses and dominate the educational institutions, people like this author will realise their mistake. All too late.

Bronte,
It'll be interesting how the chinese will deal with the boat people once they get enough control if we get another ALP Government. Just because he speaks chinese doesn't give Kevin the right to sell us out to them.