❓ Mr. Birney questions the Premier on the justification for a new power levy, given the state's surplus. The Premier defends the levy as necessary for energy safety and allocates the surplus to infrastructure, health, education, and police.
AnsweredQoN 662Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Premier’s intention to impose a new multimillion-dollar financial burden on every household and business in the state in the form of the new power levy contained in the Energy Safety Levy Bill 2005. I also refer to the fact that power generation companies have made it clear that they will pass on this extra cost to electricity and gas consumers, as evidenced by a letter written to me by Alinta, which reads, in part, that the company will have little option but to follow the example of other states and pass this levy on to consumers as a special fee. Given the billion-dollar surplus and record tax revenues, how does the Premier justify introducing this new tax on power? Dr G.I. GALLOP
AnswerView source ↗
First of all, on behalf of the government, I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Vasse on his elevation. It must have been our trip to Busselton and Margaret River last week that lifted his status! Congratulations on his elevation. It is also appropriate on this occasion to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his engagement. We wish him all the best for the future. Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: First of all, on behalf of the government, I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Vasse on his elevation. It must have been our trip to Busselton and Margaret River last week that lifted his status! Congratulations on his elevation. It is also appropriate on this occasion to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his engagement. We wish him all the best for the future. Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
First of all, on behalf of the government, I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Vasse on his elevation. It must have been our trip to Busselton and Margaret River last week that lifted his status! Congratulations on his elevation. It is also appropriate on this occasion to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his engagement. We wish him all the best for the future. Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: First of all, on behalf of the government, I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Vasse on his elevation. It must have been our trip to Busselton and Margaret River last week that lifted his status! Congratulations on his elevation. It is also appropriate on this occasion to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his engagement. We wish him all the best for the future. Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
First of all, on behalf of the government, I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Vasse on his elevation. It must have been our trip to Busselton and Margaret River last week that lifted his status! Congratulations on his elevation. It is also appropriate on this occasion to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his engagement. We wish him all the best for the future. Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Mr Speaker, on to matters of energy. The whole question of energy safety is absolutely crucial. The cabinet thought long and hard about this issue. The legislation will be subject to wide-ranging consultation. Our view is that we must ensure that we have the revenue available to ensure the proper safety - Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Mr M.J. Birney : You have a billion-dollar surplus. What are you talking about? Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
Dr G.I. GALLOP : The billion-dollar surplus, as the Leader of the Opposition calls it, will go into infrastructure to build the future of our state; into the health and education systems; and into the Police Service. We have seen the results of such investment in our Police Service. It is very important that we ensure industry understands its obligations on safety. We looked at many other areas in Western Australia where it is understood that a contribution should be made towards the creation of a safe framework; this is one of those areas.
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