THE Premier says no, but the Treasurer has been more cautious as the government attempts to answer whether Queensland will have to buy back infrastructure at the end of its asset-lease program.
The government has not been able to give a concrete answer on the subject since it was raised last year, because the agreements have not yet been drawn up.
The government is waiting for its mandate – an election win – which has made it difficult to rule out.
Under the South Australian electricity asset lease agreement, the lessee can elect to own any infrastructure on which it spends more than $2 million.
If South Australia wants that infrastructure back at the end of the agreement, it would have to pay the private company the full value of the assets.
If the Liberal National Party wins on January 31, Queensland will privatise its electricity network and during the life of the lease, be it 49 or 99 years, much of the infrastructure will need replacing as it reaches the end of its own working life.
Treasurer Tim Nicholls has not been able to rule out the state having to buy back that infrastructure at the end of the leasing agreement.
"Those things come back to the state of Queensland, because what happens is when people put that investment in, they do it and they get the return through the fee or price that they charge over the duration of the term," he told Fairfax Radio 4BC Mornings on Tuesday, when asked about the infrastructure.
"At the moment, the Australian Energy Regulator sets the return that those companies can receive and that will continue, whether it is owned by the government, or whether it is owned by the private sector.
"...They'll get their return and the assets come back to the people of Queensland, under the terms of the lease, at the end of the lease term.
"...In the normal case, you would expect they would be paid off over the time, so you make investments, over 10 or 15 years, the life of something, and you depreciate it over that period of time, and at the end of the lease, it comes back to the state of Queensland."
But Mr Newman, speaking to reporters on the Gold Coast, was more emphatic.
Reporter: "Premier, given asset sales is the key point of difference between you and the Labor Party, can you tell voters whether at the end of this…sorry, asset leases, whether at the end of this 99 year lease they will be required to buy the assets back?"
Premier: "Of course they won't be."
Reporter: "There's no requirement as in South Australia?"
Premier: "Of course not. Yep."
On Monday, Mr Nicholls said the government was still to have those discussions.
"We will have negotiations, of course, with the proposals of those around those issues, but at this stage of proceedings what we are really saying to the people of Queensland is, here is the plan for how to deal with these problems that we face," he said.
