❓ Hon. Michael Mischin questions the Minister for Regional Development regarding financial assistance to Carnegie Clean Energy's Albany Wave Energy Project, specifically concerning milestone payments and potential renegotiation of agreements. The Minister denies encouraging claims or instructing renegotiations.
AnsweredQoN 976Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
ALBANY WAVE ENERGY
PROJECT — CARNEGIE CLEAN ENERGY — FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
976. Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer the minister to her response
to question without notice 949, asked on Tuesday, 16 October.
(1) On what date
and from whom did the minister first learn that Carnegie may not have been able
to meet its originally agreed milestone?
(2) Did the
minister at any stage encourage Carnegie to lodge a claim for payment under the
original milestone; and, if yes, when and with whom?
(3) Did the
minister make it known to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development, either directly or indirectly, or instruct the department to
renegotiate the milestone agreement to facilitate a payment to Carnegie; and,
if yes, when and with whom did this communication take place?
PROJECT — CARNEGIE CLEAN ENERGY — FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
976. Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer the minister to her response
to question without notice 949, asked on Tuesday, 16 October.
(1) On what date
and from whom did the minister first learn that Carnegie may not have been able
to meet its originally agreed milestone?
(2) Did the
minister at any stage encourage Carnegie to lodge a claim for payment under the
original milestone; and, if yes, when and with whom?
(3) Did the
minister make it known to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development, either directly or indirectly, or instruct the department to
renegotiate the milestone agreement to facilitate a payment to Carnegie; and,
if yes, when and with whom did this communication take place?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1) There are no
deadlines attached to the milestones in the financial assistance agreement.
Hon Michael
Mischin : I didn't ask about a date.
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN : There
was not a date on which I was advised that Carnegie would not have been able to
meet the originally agreed milestone because there was no specific date for
that milestone. The recipient is able to claim payment of the milestone after
this date once the relevant deliverables relating to that milestone have been
achieved.
On 14 September 2018, I was advised
by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that a proposal
for a part payment of the first milestone was under consideration. I was
informed that this was because milestone 1 in the original FAA was in dispute
regarding the interpretation of whether procurement of the common-user
infrastructure had been demonstrated. The department and Carnegie negotiated a variation
that the department believed mitigated the risk to the state while still
honouring the contractual obligations to Carnegie. The variation was prepared
following advice from the department's internal counsel, and included a
staged payment arrangement for milestone 1, which limited the state's
financial exposure to payment of the full milestone.
(2)–(3) No.
(1) There are no
deadlines attached to the milestones in the financial assistance agreement.
Hon Michael
Mischin : I didn't ask about a date.
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN : There
was not a date on which I was advised that Carnegie would not have been able to
meet the originally agreed milestone because there was no specific date for
that milestone. The recipient is able to claim payment of the milestone after
this date once the relevant deliverables relating to that milestone have been
achieved.
On 14 September 2018, I was advised
by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that a proposal
for a part payment of the first milestone was under consideration. I was
informed that this was because milestone 1 in the original FAA was in dispute
regarding the interpretation of whether procurement of the common-user
infrastructure had been demonstrated. The department and Carnegie negotiated a variation
that the department believed mitigated the risk to the state while still
honouring the contractual obligations to Carnegie. The variation was prepared
following advice from the department's internal counsel, and included a
staged payment arrangement for milestone 1, which limited the state's
financial exposure to payment of the full milestone.
(2)–(3) No.
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