❓ Question regarding the McGowan government's actions to support households with water bills under the WA Recovery Plan, and a comparison to the previous Liberal-National government. The Minister's response focuses on defending the current government's record and criticising the Leader of the Opposition's claims about water charges.
AnsweredQoN 706Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — WA
RECOVERY PLAN — WATER CHARGES
706. Ms A. SANDERSON to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's support for households through its $5.5 billion recovery
plan, as Western Australia recovers from COVID-19.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what action this government has taken to support
households with their water bills?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house how this compares with the way households were
treated by the previous Liberal–National government?
RECOVERY PLAN — WATER CHARGES
706. Ms A. SANDERSON to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's support for households through its $5.5 billion recovery
plan, as Western Australia recovers from COVID-19.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what action this government has taken to support
households with their water bills?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house how this compares with the way households were
treated by the previous Liberal–National government?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Morley for that question. As a government, we are very
proud of the way that we have responded to COVID-19, particularly in the water
portfolio, with the assistance we have given to households to enable them to
continue to pay their bills. Unfortunately, these initiatives seem to have been
lost on the Leader of the Opposition. Either that or she is deliberately
misleading the public. I refer to a tweet —
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr Z.R.F.
KIRKUP : Point of order, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : Minister, you
cannot say ''misleading''.
Mr D.J.
KELLY : I withdraw that. I thought I would take the opportunity while
the member for Dawesville was out of his seat!
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
D.J.
KELLY : The member for Dawesville
might like to look at the tweet that his leader put out yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, at almost three o'clock, the Leader of the Opposition put
out a tweet that said ''water charges are higher than they have ever
been''. One would think that a lazy politician could rely on water
charges always going up, so they could always claim that things are higher than
they have ever been. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition either does not know or is omitting to tell people
that in actual fact water charges this year, because of COVID-19 , have
gone down under this government. They have gone down by 1.3 per cent this
financial year.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central!
Mr D.J. KELLY : There has been
a $23 reduction in water charges this year.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The Leader of
the Opposition put out a tweet yesterday afternoon claiming that water charges
are higher than they have ever been. In actual fact, they have gone down this
financial year. If she had bothered to look, she would know that it is not a secret.
The Treasurer puts out a press release telling people about the basket of fees
and charges for households. The Leader of the Opposition just has to listen.
She put out a tweet yesterday that is completely wrong. She then went on to say
that the government is overcharging households by $400 for water; that it is
recovering $400 more than it should be. If the Leader of the Opposition paid
attention, she would know that the cost reflectivity figure for the Water
Corporation is 97 per cent across the state. The Leader of the Opposition has
implied that we are overcharging by $400 a year. My question to the Leader of
the Opposition is: Will she cut people's water charges by $400 if the
Liberal Party gets into government? Does she know how much that would cost?
There are a million Water Corporation customers in this state—$400 each
is $400 million. Is that the Leader of the Opposition's policy?
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Talk to the ERA!
Mr D.J. KELLY : I have the Leader of the Opposition's
tweet that she put out yesterday. The good news is that no-one is reading her tweets! I had a look and there were four ''likes''
to that tweet. I thought, ''That's not bad; I've put out some dud tweets.'' When I looked at the four ''likes''
to that tweet, two were from the member for Hillarys— apparently he has two Twitter accounts—and
one was from Hon Tjorn Sibma; so that is three from the Liberal side . I thought,
''That's not bad.'' The other one was from a member of
the general public. It turns out that the one person from the general public who ''liked'' the Leader of the
Opposition's tweet was a bloke called Ron Driscoll, apparently —according
to his Twitter account.
The SPEAKER : Minister, can you get back to the answer,
please.
Mr D.J. KELLY : It turns out he is a Donald Trump
supporter located in South Australia! That is the level of the Leader of the
Opposition's cut-through.
We are very proud of what
we have done for household customers in Western Australia. Apart from bringing
down water charges this financial year, we have cut the number of
disconnections by almost 70 per cent. When the Leader of the Opposition was
last in government she was the Deputy Premier, and she was cutting off 2 500 families
a year. The Leader of the Opposition is not interested in this: 10 families a day
—
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Ten families had their water cut off
every day by the former Deputy Premier. We have cut that by 70 per cent. The
people at the Water Corporation who did that work and who are now interacting
with those customers say it is the most rewarding thing they have done in their
career. They have helped struggling families pay their water bills, rather than
just ringing up and cutting off their water. That is one of the things that
this side of the house is most proud of. We do not have to resort to ''porky
pies'' on Twitter to try to get cut-through. We are helping families
during this COVID pandemic and we are proud of it.
thank the member for Morley for that question. As a government, we are very
proud of the way that we have responded to COVID-19, particularly in the water
portfolio, with the assistance we have given to households to enable them to
continue to pay their bills. Unfortunately, these initiatives seem to have been
lost on the Leader of the Opposition. Either that or she is deliberately
misleading the public. I refer to a tweet —
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr Z.R.F.
KIRKUP : Point of order, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : Minister, you
cannot say ''misleading''.
Mr D.J.
KELLY : I withdraw that. I thought I would take the opportunity while
the member for Dawesville was out of his seat!
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
D.J.
KELLY : The member for Dawesville
might like to look at the tweet that his leader put out yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, at almost three o'clock, the Leader of the Opposition put
out a tweet that said ''water charges are higher than they have ever
been''. One would think that a lazy politician could rely on water
charges always going up, so they could always claim that things are higher than
they have ever been. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition either does not know or is omitting to tell people
that in actual fact water charges this year, because of COVID-19 , have
gone down under this government. They have gone down by 1.3 per cent this
financial year.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central!
Mr D.J. KELLY : There has been
a $23 reduction in water charges this year.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The Leader of
the Opposition put out a tweet yesterday afternoon claiming that water charges
are higher than they have ever been. In actual fact, they have gone down this
financial year. If she had bothered to look, she would know that it is not a secret.
The Treasurer puts out a press release telling people about the basket of fees
and charges for households. The Leader of the Opposition just has to listen.
She put out a tweet yesterday that is completely wrong. She then went on to say
that the government is overcharging households by $400 for water; that it is
recovering $400 more than it should be. If the Leader of the Opposition paid
attention, she would know that the cost reflectivity figure for the Water
Corporation is 97 per cent across the state. The Leader of the Opposition has
implied that we are overcharging by $400 a year. My question to the Leader of
the Opposition is: Will she cut people's water charges by $400 if the
Liberal Party gets into government? Does she know how much that would cost?
There are a million Water Corporation customers in this state—$400 each
is $400 million. Is that the Leader of the Opposition's policy?
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Talk to the ERA!
Mr D.J. KELLY : I have the Leader of the Opposition's
tweet that she put out yesterday. The good news is that no-one is reading her tweets! I had a look and there were four ''likes''
to that tweet. I thought, ''That's not bad; I've put out some dud tweets.'' When I looked at the four ''likes''
to that tweet, two were from the member for Hillarys— apparently he has two Twitter accounts—and
one was from Hon Tjorn Sibma; so that is three from the Liberal side . I thought,
''That's not bad.'' The other one was from a member of
the general public. It turns out that the one person from the general public who ''liked'' the Leader of the
Opposition's tweet was a bloke called Ron Driscoll, apparently —according
to his Twitter account.
The SPEAKER : Minister, can you get back to the answer,
please.
Mr D.J. KELLY : It turns out he is a Donald Trump
supporter located in South Australia! That is the level of the Leader of the
Opposition's cut-through.
We are very proud of what
we have done for household customers in Western Australia. Apart from bringing
down water charges this financial year, we have cut the number of
disconnections by almost 70 per cent. When the Leader of the Opposition was
last in government she was the Deputy Premier, and she was cutting off 2 500 families
a year. The Leader of the Opposition is not interested in this: 10 families a day
—
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Ten families had their water cut off
every day by the former Deputy Premier. We have cut that by 70 per cent. The
people at the Water Corporation who did that work and who are now interacting
with those customers say it is the most rewarding thing they have done in their
career. They have helped struggling families pay their water bills, rather than
just ringing up and cutting off their water. That is one of the things that
this side of the house is most proud of. We do not have to resort to ''porky
pies'' on Twitter to try to get cut-through. We are helping families
during this COVID pandemic and we are proud of it.
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