A parliamentary question regarding the delay in finalising the details of the government's net feed-in tariff scheme for electricity, with the Minister responding by defending the delay and outlining the timeline for the scheme's announcement and implementation.

AnsweredQoN 894Legislative Council
Asked
16 September 2009
Portfolio
Energy

QuestionView source ↗

ELECTRICITY — NET FEED-IN TARIFF SCHEME
I refer to the answer provided yesterday to question 889 about the government’s proposed feed-in tariff. (1) Why has the government not yet finalised the details of the scheme? (2) When does the minister intend to announce the details of this heavily watered-down policy backflip? The PRESIDENT : The Minister for Energy; there are some sections of that question that contain debatable material! Hon PETER COLLIER

AnswerView source ↗

Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
(1) Why has the government not yet finalised the details of the scheme? (2) When does the minister intend to announce the details of this heavily watered-down policy backflip? The PRESIDENT : The Minister for Energy; there are some sections of that question that contain debatable material! Hon PETER COLLIER replied: Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
(2) When does the minister intend to announce the details of this heavily watered-down policy backflip? The PRESIDENT : The Minister for Energy; there are some sections of that question that contain debatable material! Hon PETER COLLIER replied: Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
The PRESIDENT : The Minister for Energy; there are some sections of that question that contain debatable material! Hon PETER COLLIER replied: Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
Hon PETER COLLIER replied: Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
Thank you, Mr President, and I thank the honourable member for that very gracious question. (1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.
(1)-(2) I say at the outset that the government’s reconsideration of the feed-in tariff was not a backflip. The simple fact is that it was a fatally flawed policy that was constructed by the previous Labor government. As Minister for Energy, I am committed to a feed-in tariff. As I have said before, I want to have the best feed-in tariff in Australia. Over the past few months I have consulted widely across all areas of industry and other jurisdictions to ensure that we have that. I would like to have a feed-in tariff that encompasses and embraces literally thousands upon thousands of Western Australians, because I think Western Australians are ready to embrace a wider, more expansive feed-in tariff. The Office of Energy is working fastidiously on that. I have been in close consultation with former member Hon Paul Llewellyn, who is a great authority on feed-in tariffs and he has given me some very sound advice. To answer the member in a definitive fashion, I do not want to put a time line on this. The government has made a commitment to introduce a feed-in tariff from 1 July 2010. I would like to think that we will have the format for the new feed-in tariff completed certainly by the end of the year, and perhaps before then. An announcement will be made early in the new year on the format of the feed-in tariff, how comprehensive it will be, who it will impact upon and who is eligible for it. We will introduce the tariff on 1 July 2010.

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