❓ Ms. Shaw questions the Minister for Energy about access to cabinet documents regarding an uneconomic power station contract in South Hedland awarded by the previous Liberal-National government. The Minister accuses the former government of choosing the most expensive option, hindering renewable energy development and burdening taxpayers.
AnsweredQoN 409Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HORIZON POWER —
SOUTH HEDLAND — CABINET DOCUMENTS
409. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Energy:
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! The
member for Warren–Blackwood, you could have —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, I call you to order for the first and second time.
Start again.
Ms J.J. SHAW : My question is
to the Minister for Energy. I refer to the minister's statement during
the estimates committee examination of
Horizon Power that he had written to the Leader of the Opposition to seek
access to cabinet documents relating to an uneconomic contract that was
entered into for a new power station in South Hedland. Can the minister advise
the house whether the Leader of the Opposition has responded to the question;
and, if not, can the minister outline why it is important that taxpayers are
provided with an understanding of how this financially irresponsible decision
was made by the previous Liberal–National government?
SOUTH HEDLAND — CABINET DOCUMENTS
409. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Energy:
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! The
member for Warren–Blackwood, you could have —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, I call you to order for the first and second time.
Start again.
Ms J.J. SHAW : My question is
to the Minister for Energy. I refer to the minister's statement during
the estimates committee examination of
Horizon Power that he had written to the Leader of the Opposition to seek
access to cabinet documents relating to an uneconomic contract that was
entered into for a new power station in South Hedland. Can the minister advise
the house whether the Leader of the Opposition has responded to the question;
and, if not, can the minister outline why it is important that taxpayers are
provided with an understanding of how this financially irresponsible decision
was made by the previous Liberal–National government?
AnswerView source ↗
I
am pleased to answer this question. The Premier and the Treasurer have outlined
today how they are working hard to
get the state's finances back on track. Of course, we still have to
deal with the legacies of the member for Riverton , which is holding back
the state. One of those legacies is this state contract. I wrote to the Leader
of the Opposition on 14 May 2019 and asked for access to the cabinet documents
relating to this issue, because the information that is available to us is very
clear: the former government chose the most expensive option for this project.
It was also clear in discussion with Horizon Power and the Public Utilities
Office that this project was overly large for the needs of the north west
interconnected system. Considerable unused capacity in the north west
interconnected system is being paid for by the people of this state. That is
holding back Western Australia's energy system.
We need a clear picture of why the
former government deliberately chose the most expensive, least flexible option
and why it did not consider cheaper renewable energy for this project, because
let us understand that the Pilbara is probably the best place in the world to
have built a renewable energy project. This power station prevents renewable
energy being connected at large scale in the north west interconnected system,
because this large unused power station is being paid for anyway. There is no
logical reason, and Horizon Power did not recommend it. The entire process
rejected Horizon Power's recommendation to the former government. We
need a clear picture of why the then government made this bad uneconomic
decision and the Minister for Energy and Treasurer at the time who did this is
the member for Riverton. I wrote to him on 14 May, asking him to give access to
those cabinet documents so that we can understand why he chose to saddle the
people of Western Australia with a high-cost unnecessary power station in the
Pilbara. It is holding back all of our decision-making process. Let us understand;
it is a very simple idea —
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Over-costs
in the north west interconnected system are paid for by Synergy users in the
south west. High costs in the north west are paid for through high electricity
prices for Synergy customers. That was the member for Riverton's plan.
He was going to hide this contract and have south west interconnected customers
pay higher Synergy prices. We need it explained to us.
am pleased to answer this question. The Premier and the Treasurer have outlined
today how they are working hard to
get the state's finances back on track. Of course, we still have to
deal with the legacies of the member for Riverton , which is holding back
the state. One of those legacies is this state contract. I wrote to the Leader
of the Opposition on 14 May 2019 and asked for access to the cabinet documents
relating to this issue, because the information that is available to us is very
clear: the former government chose the most expensive option for this project.
It was also clear in discussion with Horizon Power and the Public Utilities
Office that this project was overly large for the needs of the north west
interconnected system. Considerable unused capacity in the north west
interconnected system is being paid for by the people of this state. That is
holding back Western Australia's energy system.
We need a clear picture of why the
former government deliberately chose the most expensive, least flexible option
and why it did not consider cheaper renewable energy for this project, because
let us understand that the Pilbara is probably the best place in the world to
have built a renewable energy project. This power station prevents renewable
energy being connected at large scale in the north west interconnected system,
because this large unused power station is being paid for anyway. There is no
logical reason, and Horizon Power did not recommend it. The entire process
rejected Horizon Power's recommendation to the former government. We
need a clear picture of why the then government made this bad uneconomic
decision and the Minister for Energy and Treasurer at the time who did this is
the member for Riverton. I wrote to him on 14 May, asking him to give access to
those cabinet documents so that we can understand why he chose to saddle the
people of Western Australia with a high-cost unnecessary power station in the
Pilbara. It is holding back all of our decision-making process. Let us understand;
it is a very simple idea —
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Over-costs
in the north west interconnected system are paid for by Synergy users in the
south west. High costs in the north west are paid for through high electricity
prices for Synergy customers. That was the member for Riverton's plan.
He was going to hide this contract and have south west interconnected customers
pay higher Synergy prices. We need it explained to us.
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