The delegates, however, didn't buy the lines spun by Costa and his cohorts to sell off our power industry. They didn't think much of his performance either.

Unfortunately, the delegates and the communities that they represent were not the real audience that the Premier and Treasurer were trying to impress. Their sights were fixed firmly on the paying customers in the corporate boxes and the media barons.

The big end of town was not interested in the democratic outcome of a rigorous debate about energy needs and environmental responsibility. They were promised a blood sport; Iemma, Costa and supporting cast versus the rank-and-file Labor members and the unions. For them it wasn't the vote that they were waiting for but the determination of the Government to ignore it and put the knife into the Labor movement. Iemma didn't disappoint and neither did his ministers, some of whom would have felt at home in the Howard government with their tirades about union bosses. This was a class act in every sense.

To the critical observer, however, the arguments put forward would have seemed at best intellectually weak and at worst dishonest.

First, the heart-string puller: "We won't have enough money for the disabled kids or for the hospitals and schools." Hello? Is this the same Government responsible for running down our public infrastructure, our railways, hospitals and schools? The same political machine that has arrogantly ignored calls from our teachers and nurses for a decade to urgently invest in skills and funding?

Next, the classic favoured by Illawarra's state pollies: "We've got to sell it to save it." This argument is about as close as our state MPs get to the light on the hill. It suggests that the lights will go out in NSW if the Government doesn't sell off the industry. The problem is, selling the existing generators doesn't create any extra capacity, it just hands the profits to big business - the crowd that Bob Carr and Paul Keating hang around with.

Third, the Shellharbour, special: "But my electorate already has a private power plant, at Tallawarra, and the sky hasn't fallen in!" Well no it hasn't, sunshine, which should prove beyond reasonable doubt that you don't have to sell our publicly owned power plants to encourage private sector investment. While you're at it, why not focus on encouraging even greater investment in the renewable sector if you are genuinely concerned about the future of power generation and saving our environment.

Finally, an argument seriously put forward by a minister who must have been having a lobotomy moment, during the conference: "If we don't do it the Libs will sell it when they get into government." Right, so why don't we get in first and sell the railways, the water and the hospitals because the Libs might sell those too? Don't laugh.

It is sad that our Labor politicians have resorted to attacking unions and party members in their perverse attempts to demonstrate leadership. I don't believe holding the overwhelming majority of people in NSW in contempt will be seen as an act of leadership. A sign of arrogance and desperation might be closer to the mark.

* Arthur Rorris is South Coast Labour Council secretary