NSW premier Chris Minns says state’s far west let down by privatisation after region’s only working large-scale emergency generator failed

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, is flying to Broken Hill after a storm left about 20,000 people without power and put pressure on energy operator Transgrid to explain why it did not have a backup plan to prevent the outage.

Minns will meet affected locals on Thursday after announcing an inquiry into the incident and formally declaring a natural disaster to unlock emergency relief funding for the outback town and surrounding communities.

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