❓ A parliamentary question accuses the Minister for Energy of negligence regarding Western Power's maintenance underspending, which the Minister vehemently denies, citing increased safety compliance and the findings of the Shepherd inquiry.
AnsweredQoN 182Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN POWER —
OUTAGES — REVIEW
182. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. Was
the minister asleep at the wheel during the last five years and unaware of the
maintenance underspend by Western Power?
OUTAGES — REVIEW
182. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. Was
the minister asleep at the wheel during the last five years and unaware of the
maintenance underspend by Western Power?
AnswerView source ↗
Given that I have been the Minister
for Energy for three years, that is an interesting question. For two years, I was
the Minister for Commerce. When I was the Minister for Commerce, one of my
responsibilities was the safety of the network because I was responsible for
EnergySafety. One of the great things is that Western Power, under the leadership
of both the former minister Ben Wyatt and me, has responded to the demands of
EnergySafety. For the first time in a long
time, Western Power is meeting its EnergySafety demands. I am pleased to see
that Western Power responds to the leadership given by this government.
I finish by saying that the member's
supplementary question is simply not true; it is a falsehood. He must have
asked that question because he has not read the Shepherd inquiry. In his
supplementary question, he referred to a reduction
in maintenance expenditure. That is simply not true. If he had read the
Shepherd inquiry instead of making up his questions on the go, he would
know that there has been no lack of maintenance on the network.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader of
the Liberal Party!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Anybody who
says that simply has not read the report because the report makes it clear that
that is not the cause of the outages. As I said, I accept that the outages that
occurred at Christmas time were very disruptive to people. That is why I wanted,
independent of Western Power, to have those matters reviewed so that we could
learn lessons and do better in the future. The Shepherd report does both those
things.
for Energy for three years, that is an interesting question. For two years, I was
the Minister for Commerce. When I was the Minister for Commerce, one of my
responsibilities was the safety of the network because I was responsible for
EnergySafety. One of the great things is that Western Power, under the leadership
of both the former minister Ben Wyatt and me, has responded to the demands of
EnergySafety. For the first time in a long
time, Western Power is meeting its EnergySafety demands. I am pleased to see
that Western Power responds to the leadership given by this government.
I finish by saying that the member's
supplementary question is simply not true; it is a falsehood. He must have
asked that question because he has not read the Shepherd inquiry. In his
supplementary question, he referred to a reduction
in maintenance expenditure. That is simply not true. If he had read the
Shepherd inquiry instead of making up his questions on the go, he would
know that there has been no lack of maintenance on the network.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader of
the Liberal Party!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Anybody who
says that simply has not read the report because the report makes it clear that
that is not the cause of the outages. As I said, I accept that the outages that
occurred at Christmas time were very disruptive to people. That is why I wanted,
independent of Western Power, to have those matters reviewed so that we could
learn lessons and do better in the future. The Shepherd report does both those
things.
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