Member for Cook David Kempton Kempton has slammed claims made by the Electrical Trades Union, labelling the claims “misleading” and “completely false.”

“The comments attributed to me in the ETU’s advertisement are utterly untrue, there are absolutely no jobs under threat for Ergon workers,” he said. 

Mr Kempton said the State has no plans to privatise any component of electricity generation and transmission in Queensland.

“The Government is currently undertaking a comprehensive review on how to provide consumers with power in the most affordable and efficient manner,” he said.

“Following on from that, no action will be taken to privatise or sell off assets without a mandate from the Queensland people.

“I would suggest that ETU representatives should be expending its energy on ways to improve productivity rather than spreading false rumours about job losses.”

Mr Kempton said while he respected the Union’s right to protest, he wanted it made clear that it was ETU members and not Ergon workers staging the rally.

Mr Kempton gave his personal guarantee that there would be “full consultation with the community and Ergon employees” before the Government implemented any changes around employment or electricity supply.

Last month, the ETU raised concerns about massive job cuts in Far North Queensland. According to an ABC News report, the ETU said it had obtained an internal Ergon Energy memo showing 525 jobs had been cut in the region since October 2012.

In the report, an Ergon Energy spokesperson said the job cuts were part of the company's commitment to cost reduction, and only 19 of the cut FNQ jobs were operational.