LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir – The CLP must halt the sale of TIO and the party needs to come clean on how advanced with the TIO sale they are.
Rumours are circulating that the CLP Government has already found a buyer for TIO in Insurance Australia Group.
Adam Giles has pretended for weeks that no final decision has been made but he admitted to Parliament they are at final offers stage.
The CLP voted in Parliament to endorse a sale of TIO with no mandate from Territorians.
Adam Giles’ backroom deals are not the “mature conversation” he was spruiking to Territorians.
Territorians are staunchly opposed to the sale of TIO.
Petitions against the sale of TIO at the front of Labor Member’s electorate offices have been filling up with signatures.
Territorians know how important TIO is to the Territory, and how vulnerable many residents will be without the Territory specific coverage TIO offers.
TIO belongs to Territorians not the CLP Government and they should be given a chance to say what happens with their TIO.
Natasha Fyles
Shadow Minister for Government Accountability
Property values in flood prone areas will take an immediate hit if TIO is sold.
Flood insurance will cost many multiples of present TIO prices and payouts will be far less assured.
Without a political master the new TIO will be like all the others and contest many payouts, forcing claimants into disputation, including through the courts.
The cost and stress of living in a flood prone area will make even more people leave our town.
TIO is a model insurance company for the rest of the country and yet the CLP want to sell it off and downgrade it.
How about floating it as a public company owned by Territorians and use the capital raised in the float to expand it interstate?
Peters?
Why would property in flood prone areas drop? TIO are not the only company that offers flood insurance.
I have flood insurance on my house and its with Resilium Insurance. Their price was cheaper than TIO!
I suggest maybe you look around for cheaper insurance.
Are you in a flood prone area?
TIO offers the same rate for home flood protection regardless of location anywhere in the Territory. No other company does that.
TIO do it because they are the major NT insurer and they are providing a service not just making a profit.
No other insurance company would offer the same rate for a house in the Todd River flood plain as one out of the flood plain. That would make no economic sense.
It was recently reported on ABC news that if TIO was sold then premiums in flood-prone areas and especially towns like Katherine would increase by several thousand dollars.
If TIO is sold off many residents in flood prone areas will be forced to live with the worry of having no insurance, they simply won’t be able to afford it.
At the moment most Territorians are seeing a procession of ads for Queensland where they are leasing government assets out but NOT selling.
The NT asset should remain with Territorians. You can only sell them once but you can lease or not for a lifetime.
Selling at this time seems a sad indictment on the abilities and imaginations of our government. There are options.
It will show how loyal Territorials are to their TIO when the sale proceeds.
I will be one that will look else where for insurance cover.
Will this be another case of diverting government money in to a private company?
Everyone has been commenting on flood cover etc. What of our motor accident compensation scheme – this is managed by TIO?
This sale could not only put our houses at more risk but motoring in the Northern Territory as well.
Never, never, never again … will I vote CLP.
Terry Mills may have been average, Adam Giles is a disaster!
Are the management committee, party members asleep?
How does COAG, i.e. Federal government Libs, get the NT government to do it’s bidding? Perhaps set up a BLOW IN to get elected as leader in NT? Have we been hoodwinked?
Is this Chief Minister just a stooge who will help stuff things up for us and then move on feeling smug that he has done a number? I do hope not!
I hope he has the balls to stand up to Canberra and look after his electorate, and not shaft us!
Most of our businesses are in a flood zone. Can they afford much higher premiums? Can home owners afford higher premiums? Times are tough enough as it is with businesses closing and jobs disappearing with them.