Land and Property Rallies – 24 February 2016 (PDF version)
PSA MEDIA RELEASE
Workers Rally in Sydney Against Sensitive Personal Property Data Sell Off
Workers at the Land and Property Information (LPI) Service will rally in Sydney on Wednesday 24 February to protest against the Baird Government’s sell off of the state’s priceless private property data.
The Public Service Association (PSA), which represents the workers, says any sell-off would mean higher fees for consumers on services like mortgage registrations, land title transfers and records searches.
The LPI provides essential land titling, registration, mapping and valuation services for Government, emergency services and the community.
The PSA made an application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act to obtain the strategic review of LPI that was conducted by JP Morgan and Mallisons.
The union wanted to see for itself the merits, if any, of the case for the privatisation of LPI but was denied access to the documentation because there was “a conclusive overriding public interest against the release of that information”.
The Government has no problem in keeping consumers – who will be the big losers in the sell off – in the dark about the true impact of the sale.
“The PSA is yet to see or even hear of a proper business case, cost benefit analysis or post sell off evaluation that states the clear advantages to the consumer of Government services being run by private operators,” said PSA General Secretary Anne Gardiner.
“A private operator will be driven by profit – why else would they buy an enterprise? – which means higher fees for services which will of course be passed down to the consumer.”
“The security of land titles should remain in the hands of the Government not the private sector.
“The Land Titles records underpin the security of the financial system of the state of NSW.
“Currently, the Government provides insurance and security of property titles. But if LPI is sold to a private operator, individual owners may have to take out insurance to guard against unscrupulous property developers acquiring their land.”
Ms Gardiner said apart from the impact on jobs and job security, there is also the critical issue of personal data security once the unit is no longer owned, operated and properly regulated by the Government.
“Are we to see personal household land title and property valuation information being accessed by call centres off shore?”