❓ Opposition questions the Premier on the government's electricity price increases and why the electricity market isn't opened to competition like the gas market. The Premier deflects, blaming the previous government's actions and highlighting electricity price increases in NSW with full retail contestability.
AnsweredQoN 574Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
RETAIL
ELECTRICITY MARKET — COMPETITION
574. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the
Premier:
I refer to the effect of the
government's 30 per cent increase in electricity charges on pensioners
and our state's most vulnerable population.
Why is he not opening up the
electricity market to competition so that Western Australians can shop around
for the best deal, as occurs in the gas industry, which presently enjoys
household discounts of more than 35 per cent?
ELECTRICITY MARKET — COMPETITION
574. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the
Premier:
I refer to the effect of the
government's 30 per cent increase in electricity charges on pensioners
and our state's most vulnerable population.
Why is he not opening up the
electricity market to competition so that Western Australians can shop around
for the best deal, as occurs in the gas industry, which presently enjoys
household discounts of more than 35 per cent?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Your
own Premier is on his feet. Silence.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Both the member for Dawesville and the member for Bateman seem
to be frightened of the member for Victoria Park. I do not blame them for being
frightened of him because he is very formidable. He is a very formidable
performer in this place. Member for Dawesville, he would knock you over the
boundary. The truth of the matter is this. The last government had eight and a half
years to open it up to full retail contestability and it did not. It made full
retail contestability more difficult by merging Synergy and Verve. Members
opposite do not seem to have an explanation for what they did. But that is what
they did. They are all beholden to the member for Cottesloe, the great oracle
over there, who dictated policy from on high over the road and all of them
seemed to accept it, so the re-merger of Synergy and Verve, of course, is
counter to what they are suggesting. I want to put one fact before them. The
price of electricity did go up and fixed charges were put in place for the
first time ever. The average price increase from memory was 10.9 per cent. In
New South Wales where they have full retail contestability, the price went up
by around 19 per cent.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Your
own Premier is on his feet. Silence.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Both the member for Dawesville and the member for Bateman seem
to be frightened of the member for Victoria Park. I do not blame them for being
frightened of him because he is very formidable. He is a very formidable
performer in this place. Member for Dawesville, he would knock you over the
boundary. The truth of the matter is this. The last government had eight and a half
years to open it up to full retail contestability and it did not. It made full
retail contestability more difficult by merging Synergy and Verve. Members
opposite do not seem to have an explanation for what they did. But that is what
they did. They are all beholden to the member for Cottesloe, the great oracle
over there, who dictated policy from on high over the road and all of them
seemed to accept it, so the re-merger of Synergy and Verve, of course, is
counter to what they are suggesting. I want to put one fact before them. The
price of electricity did go up and fixed charges were put in place for the
first time ever. The average price increase from memory was 10.9 per cent. In
New South Wales where they have full retail contestability, the price went up
by around 19 per cent.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.