❓ Question regarding the impact of increased household fees and charges on pensioners in WA, and the revenue generated by these increases. The Treasurer's answer is partially responsive, blaming the previous government for electricity price hikes.
AnsweredQoN 391Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET — HOUSEHOLD FEES AND CHARGES
I refer to comments made by the Treasurer and published in The West Australian on 9 May 2009 in which he confirmed that household fees and charges would increase by $334 for a typical standard household next financial year. (1) What is the additional dollar impact of fees and charges on a typical pensioner household in 2009-10 as a result of this rise? (2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
I refer to comments made by the Treasurer and published in The West Australian on 9 May 2009 in which he confirmed that household fees and charges would increase by $334 for a typical standard household next financial year. (1) What is the additional dollar impact of fees and charges on a typical pensioner household in 2009-10 as a result of this rise? (2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(1) What is the additional dollar impact of fees and charges on a typical pensioner household in 2009-10 as a result of this rise? (2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(1) What is the additional dollar impact of fees and charges on a typical pensioner household in 2009-10 as a result of this rise? (2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(2) What will be the additional revenue, compared with 2008-09, generated by the increase in fees and charges for 2009-10 and the three out years? Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
I thank the member for Victoria Park for some notice of the question. (1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
(1)-(2) As was made obvious over the weekend, there will be increases in government fees and charges in this year’s budget, as there are in every year’s budget. The government has made a conscious decision to, wherever and whenever possible, insulate Western Australian households from the impacts of the global financial crisis as they filter down through increases in the charges that make up the representative household model. It has been difficult, and the government has had to make a number of tough decisions along the way. It is also important to note that one of the major factors in the increase to the household fees and charges model this year is the increase in the price of electricity. The price of electricity has contributed the vast bulk of any increase in household fees and charges. The message from the government to the households of Western Australia is that it is the bill the former government has sent to them for its botch-up of energy reforms. Mr E.S. Ripper : Rubbish! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition was a former Minister for Energy, was he not? What about the former Minister for Energy, the member for Cockburn; he was asleep at the wheel as Verve Energy crashed off the financial cliff! Asleep at the wheel! Point of Order Mr B.S. WYATT : I gave the Treasurer some notice of this question; it deals specifically with pensioner households and revenue in the out years. I would appreciate it if the Treasurer would provide a relevant answer to the question. The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I take the member for Victoria Park’s point of order. The Treasurer has the call. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I am working towards the answer. Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr P. Papalia : Stop clowning around, and answer the question! The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I call the member for Warnbro to order. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I have often thought that the oxygen mix was wrong occasionally on those deep dives! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr M. McGowan : Bus driver attacks war hero! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will outline the impact of the price increases on pensioners. Firstly, excluding electricity, the increase in the pensioner basket will be an increase of 2.09 per cent. Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr M. McGowan : Are you going to give the figure including electricity? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, I have said I will give both figures. Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr E.S. Ripper : And in dollar terms? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That figure is well below the reference rate of inflation; it is even well below the forecast rate of inflation for next year. In dollar terms, the increase will be $54.46 per annum. The price of water will increase by just over nine per cent; a percentage increase similar to that in last year’s budget. That increase is explained in the budget papers by way of a similar explanation to that presented last year. Some fees and charges will not be increasing: the cost of drivers’ licences; one and two-zone concessional fares for pensioners; and the stamp duty pensioners pay on insurance and compulsory third party insurance. If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
If the cost of electricity is included in the calculation, the increase in the basket for pensioners will be $256 per annum. I make it quite clear to the house and to pensioners the length and breadth of Western Australia that $201—78 per cent of the increase in household fees and charges they will have to pay this year—is directly attributable to the failure of the former government to manage the energy reform process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I call the Leader of the Opposition to order! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The former Minister for Energy was asleep at the wheel when Verve lost millions! That was the problem! Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : That is the government’s message to the pensioners of Western Australia. However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
However, the government also has plenty of good news in the budget for the pensioners of Western Australia. They will benefit from the seniors’ cost-of-living rebate—$100 for single people and $150 for families; they will benefit from free public transport at non-peak times; they will benefit from the country age pension fuel card, which will provide $500 worth of fuel and/or equivalent taxi fares; and, they will benefit from a scheme that will enable them to install $200 worth of security devices in their homes. Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
Yes, there will be an impact on pensioners of the increase in household fees and charges in the budget, 78 per cent of which is due to the former government’s botched efforts to reform energy, but there is plenty of good news in this government’s budget for the pensioners of Western Australia.
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