❓ Mr Trenorden questions the Premier about the disaggregation of Western Power, specifically regarding the financial viability of Verve Energy and potential electricity price increases. The Premier defends the disaggregation as a necessary reform.
AnsweredQoN 161Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN POWER — DISAGGREGATION 161. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN to the Premier: Given that the Nationals were the only ones to oppose the break-up of Western Power and voted against the Electricity Corporations Bill 2005, I ask — (1) Why did the Premier not explain to taxpayers at the time that Verve Energy would be asked to operate in a hopelessly small marketplace and would require huge funding injections? (2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
WESTERN POWER — DISAGGREGATION
Given that the Nationals were the only ones to oppose the break-up of Western Power and voted against the Electricity Corporations Bill 2005, I ask — (1) Why did the Premier not explain to taxpayers at the time that Verve Energy would be asked to operate in a hopelessly small marketplace and would require huge funding injections? (2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(1) Why did the Premier not explain to taxpayers at the time that Verve Energy would be asked to operate in a hopelessly small marketplace and would require huge funding injections? (2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
WESTERN POWER — DISAGGREGATION
Given that the Nationals were the only ones to oppose the break-up of Western Power and voted against the Electricity Corporations Bill 2005, I ask — (1) Why did the Premier not explain to taxpayers at the time that Verve Energy would be asked to operate in a hopelessly small marketplace and would require huge funding injections? (2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(1) Why did the Premier not explain to taxpayers at the time that Verve Energy would be asked to operate in a hopelessly small marketplace and would require huge funding injections? (2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(2) Why did the Premier not know that the electricity charges would effectively need to be doubled to either sustain Verve’s operation or for it to break even? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
(1)-(2) I thank the member for the question. Only the National Party opposed the disaggregation of Western Power because everybody else in this Parliament recognised that it was the right thing to do. We no longer live in the old soviet-style world in which we have these monolithic state monopolies. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : We no longer live in the era in which these monolithic state-owned monopolies are supported broadly by policymakers or legislators. We supported disaggregation, and so did the Liberal Party. Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes. In fact, nobody in Western Australia, other than perhaps those members of the National Party who are making this point now, would put forward a serious argument that, if the disaggregation had not happened, the situation would not be significantly inferior to what it is today. Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Stay tuned. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member for Cottesloe might, but I think he was going for a different form of disaggregation. He was wrong. Everybody knows that he was wrong. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, which represents business in Western Australia, knows that what happened was right. It supported my announcement last Friday. It knows why the change had to happen. Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Small business people don’t. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes they do; they supported it. We have the National Party, the voice from the wilderness, ranting and raving, “Bring back socialism.” If we had not disaggregated, the situation with which we would be faced now would be—to choose the word that was appropriately applied last week—chaotic. Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : Is it not chaotic now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Of course it is not. Does anybody seriously believe that? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The member does, does he? Does he no longer support the disaggregation? Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr T. Buswell : You have lost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money because the minister cannot manage the process. That’s a great outcome for the public of Western Australia! Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : That is not right. It is very difficult to engage in a serious discussion on a policy issue such as this when this sort of position, which is completely devoid of any factual basis or analysis, is being taken. It is barking on the sidelines while the real world goes on. Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Disaggregation of monolithic utilities has happened all over the world. We were the last state or territory in Australia, bar the Northern Territory, to go through this reform process. People were demanding that it happen because it was the right thing to do. Disaggregation has allowed numerous private sector investors into the generation market. It was the right thing to do. I advise the member for Avon that disaggregation did not result in the world oil price going up; disaggregation did not result in the world price of commodities going up; and disaggregation did not result in the price of labour going up. Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : It did push up electricity prices. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Electricity prices have not gone up. Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Where is the honesty now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I am being honest. Members opposite cannot deal with an honest response to these issues. Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Disaggregation was not the cause of historic underinvestment in plant and equipment in what was formerly known as Western Power; the causes were policy failure, refusal to engage with the big issues confronting Western Power and refusal to make the decision to bring about reform. This is why, when the opposition was in government, there was a diabolical situation of unreliable power provision throughout all electorates. It was a diabolical situation. The government inherited a power network that was collapsing around its ears because of severe underinvestment by the previous government. Power poles were spontaneously bursting into flames. The government faced years of investment catch-up to make the network reliable, let alone expand the network to meet the needs of an economy growing at the rate of seven or eight per cent. Does anybody in Western Australia seriously believe that we would be better off had Western Power not been disaggregated? We would be in a very critical situation — Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : We’re not now? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : No. Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr J.H.D. Day : You’ve been fixated on doing one thing and not managing the whole system properly. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When we came to government, the power provider was a state monopoly that could not tell us where it was spending money, what it was spending money on, what the outcomes of its expenditure were, or what improvements came about as a result. It could not and would not tell us. A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
A government member: You can tell us about Verve now, can you? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I spent an hour on Friday going through the detail of the situation involving Verve. The government has produced a document, a report from the Office of Energy, that outlines the situation in some detail to the public of Western Australia. Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Dr K.D. Hames : Seven years you’ve been there. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Exactly. Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Dr K.D. Hames : Suddenly a year ago you discovered there’s a problem. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : When it came to government, the Labor Party faced a situation that required reform. It took us four or five years to effect reform because for only one of those years was there a Leader of the Opposition who was capable of understanding what was necessary and why it had to be done. The opposition seems now to be reverting to type. For only one year, when the member for Kalgoorlie was Leader of the Opposition, did the opposition have a leader who was prepared to acknowledge that reform was necessary and to take the hard steps necessary to support the government in making that reform come about. Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr C.J. Barnett : Has that been a success? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Yes, it has. Is the opposition saying that power supply and reliability is now inferior to what it was? Horizon Energy is a great success story; Western Power is a reliable provider; and Synergy contributes to a competitive market. Ultimately, there will also be a competitive wholesale domestic market. The situation has moved on. Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Let me make this point quite clearly: it is obvious from what the opposition is saying that it will move to reaggregate the energy providers. Is that what it will do? Will it sell off the assets? The opposition should stand and rule out the possibility that it will sell off the assets. Is that what it will do? The Leader of the Opposition cannot bring himself to answer any questions honestly. Will the opposition do what I suspect it will do if elected, which is to increase electricity prices by 47 per cent in one fell swoop? I think that is what the opposition intends. I believe the Liberal Party, if it wins government, will increase electricity prices by 47 per cent or more over a single year. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : The opposition should outline its alternative position.
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