❓ Mr. Blayney asks about the completion of Western Power's wood pole order. The Minister responds, highlighting the project's completion on time, under budget, and exceeding previous Labor government's efforts.
AnsweredQoN 413Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN
POWER — WOOD POLE ORDER
413. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the announcement made by EnergySafety that Western
Power has now completed its wood pole order. Will the minister please update
the house on the completion of this important work?
POWER — WOOD POLE ORDER
413. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the announcement made by EnergySafety that Western
Power has now completed its wood pole order. Will the minister please update
the house on the completion of this important work?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Geraldton for the question. It is an
excellent one. Before I answer it, I recognise the year 6 kids from Nedlands
Primary School in the gallery.
As members in this house know, one of the big challenges we
faced when we came to government was to address the lack of investment in
Western Power under the previous Labor government. Following audits by
EnergySafety in 2005, 2006 and 2007, EnergySafety issued a wood pole order in
2009 to make up for the failure to invest adequately in Western Power and
systemic risk caused in the system. We took that on seriously. It required not
only expenditure of money but also changing the culture in Western Power and
the systems of assessing knowledge about its assets and, by the way, a commitment
to getting things done in Western Power. That included changing most of the
senior management and the board and putting in asset management systems that
identified the asset. One of Western Power's problems was that it had
no comprehensive knowledge of the number or state of the pole distribution in
its large network. It had to undertake a large amount of preliminary work. This
was a major undertaking. We thought it would cost in the vicinity of $1.3 billion,
and we committed the money to it. The Auditor General's review about a year
or so ago indicated we were unlikely to meet the target, and the target was to
finish 170 000 poles through either replacement or reinforcement by 31 December
2015. We met it. We met the order.
Today, we announced that EnergySafety has gone back and
looked at the pole distribution network and confirmed that Western Power not
only met the order but met it properly and fully. That is a huge achievement.
More importantly, we did it at half the cost we estimated—$700 million.
We spent $620 million; that is $700 million or thereabouts less than budgeted.
It was on time and under budget and it improved the system. Under Labor,
Western Power replaced and reinforced about 2 000 poles a year. We have done
170 000 and we are now doing 10 000. We not only met that order, but we are
still replacing and upgrading poles at five times the rate undertaken by the
Labor Party. It is a major achievement and I thank all the people working for
Western Power and its contractors and EnergySafety for getting this project
done under budget and on time, and also preparing to develop and maintain the
system going forward. That is a great achievement.
excellent one. Before I answer it, I recognise the year 6 kids from Nedlands
Primary School in the gallery.
As members in this house know, one of the big challenges we
faced when we came to government was to address the lack of investment in
Western Power under the previous Labor government. Following audits by
EnergySafety in 2005, 2006 and 2007, EnergySafety issued a wood pole order in
2009 to make up for the failure to invest adequately in Western Power and
systemic risk caused in the system. We took that on seriously. It required not
only expenditure of money but also changing the culture in Western Power and
the systems of assessing knowledge about its assets and, by the way, a commitment
to getting things done in Western Power. That included changing most of the
senior management and the board and putting in asset management systems that
identified the asset. One of Western Power's problems was that it had
no comprehensive knowledge of the number or state of the pole distribution in
its large network. It had to undertake a large amount of preliminary work. This
was a major undertaking. We thought it would cost in the vicinity of $1.3 billion,
and we committed the money to it. The Auditor General's review about a year
or so ago indicated we were unlikely to meet the target, and the target was to
finish 170 000 poles through either replacement or reinforcement by 31 December
2015. We met it. We met the order.
Today, we announced that EnergySafety has gone back and
looked at the pole distribution network and confirmed that Western Power not
only met the order but met it properly and fully. That is a huge achievement.
More importantly, we did it at half the cost we estimated—$700 million.
We spent $620 million; that is $700 million or thereabouts less than budgeted.
It was on time and under budget and it improved the system. Under Labor,
Western Power replaced and reinforced about 2 000 poles a year. We have done
170 000 and we are now doing 10 000. We not only met that order, but we are
still replacing and upgrading poles at five times the rate undertaken by the
Labor Party. It is a major achievement and I thank all the people working for
Western Power and its contractors and EnergySafety for getting this project
done under budget and on time, and also preparing to develop and maintain the
system going forward. That is a great achievement.
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