❓ Mr Zempilas questions the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation's confidence in Western Power, citing issues with lost equipment, slow connections, and power outages. The Minister acknowledges the equipment loss as unacceptable and confirms an audit, while defending Western Power's overall performance and attributing outages to infrastructure faults and third-party interference.
AnsweredQoN 75Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Western Power—Minister's confidence
75. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to
revelations that Western Power has lost or had stolen 563 computers, laptops
and tablets in just over two years.
Does the minister
maintain confidence in Western Power, given it takes it eight months to connect
new homes to power, it cannot keep the lights on in suburbs like Bullsbrook and
Chidlow, and it has now lost or had stolen over a million dollars worth of
taxpayer-owned equipment?
75. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to
revelations that Western Power has lost or had stolen 563 computers, laptops
and tablets in just over two years.
Does the minister
maintain confidence in Western Power, given it takes it eight months to connect
new homes to power, it cannot keep the lights on in suburbs like Bullsbrook and
Chidlow, and it has now lost or had stolen over a million dollars worth of
taxpayer-owned equipment?
AnswerView source ↗
With regard to the
laptops, of course that is not acceptable and an audit has commenced. It will
be undertaken to understand the asset management program. It represents a very
small percentage of its assets, but it is not acceptable and an audit is being
undertaken. I commit to doing that.
Yes, I do have
confidence in Western Power to be able to manage our grid and support the
network. The issues in Bullsbrook are very specifically related to
infrastructure and third-party interference with infrastructure.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, you have asked
the question, let the minister reply, please.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: A number of those outages—I
do understand that they were really inconvenient and very, very uncomfortable
for a number of residents on very hot days—were caused by faults and
third-party interference, like animals and vegetation. It is a broadly distributed
network out there. There is a lot of vegetation. I know that the Western Power
guys were out there in 40 degrees, in extreme heat, walking those lines,
finding those faults and getting those houses reconnected, and I thank them for
that. I want to thank the Western Power crews for getting—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition! Leader of the
Opposition, I am going to call you for the first time.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: I want to acknowledge the
member for Swan Hills for the work that she has done with the community and
Western Power. She spoke to the community and explained the cause and the
process of the connections. The misinformation that it is somehow a housing or a
capacity issue is not correct. It has been caused by faults with infrastructure,
and Western Power is working hard to ensure that there is greater resilience in
that particular network, and the local member is working with those residents to
ensure that they have all the support they need from Synergy should those
faults occur again.
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt!
Mr Lachlan Hunter: Over here.
The Speaker: Member
for Central Wheatbelt, those sorts of comments are not helpful. I remind you
that you are on two calls and we have private member's business coming up.
laptops, of course that is not acceptable and an audit has commenced. It will
be undertaken to understand the asset management program. It represents a very
small percentage of its assets, but it is not acceptable and an audit is being
undertaken. I commit to doing that.
Yes, I do have
confidence in Western Power to be able to manage our grid and support the
network. The issues in Bullsbrook are very specifically related to
infrastructure and third-party interference with infrastructure.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, you have asked
the question, let the minister reply, please.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: A number of those outages—I
do understand that they were really inconvenient and very, very uncomfortable
for a number of residents on very hot days—were caused by faults and
third-party interference, like animals and vegetation. It is a broadly distributed
network out there. There is a lot of vegetation. I know that the Western Power
guys were out there in 40 degrees, in extreme heat, walking those lines,
finding those faults and getting those houses reconnected, and I thank them for
that. I want to thank the Western Power crews for getting—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition! Leader of the
Opposition, I am going to call you for the first time.
Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson: I want to acknowledge the
member for Swan Hills for the work that she has done with the community and
Western Power. She spoke to the community and explained the cause and the
process of the connections. The misinformation that it is somehow a housing or a
capacity issue is not correct. It has been caused by faults with infrastructure,
and Western Power is working hard to ensure that there is greater resilience in
that particular network, and the local member is working with those residents to
ensure that they have all the support they need from Synergy should those
faults occur again.
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt!
Mr Lachlan Hunter: Over here.
The Speaker: Member
for Central Wheatbelt, those sorts of comments are not helpful. I remind you
that you are on two calls and we have private member's business coming up.
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