❓ Opposition questions the Energy Minister about Verve Energy's financial losses due to vesting contracts and frozen tariffs, seeking details on future losses, potential price increases, and the impact on vulnerable groups. The Minister deflects, citing commercial sensitivity and blaming past opposition policies.
AnsweredQoN 661Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
VERVE ENERGY - FINANCIAL LOSSES
I refer to the financial losses that have been incurred by Verve Energy because of the vesting contracts to supply electricity to Synergy - a loss of $52 million in 2006-07 and apparently rising. (1) Has the minister received advice from Verve on the anticipated losses likely to be incurred for the next three years; and, if so, will he table that advice? (2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN
I refer to the financial losses that have been incurred by Verve Energy because of the vesting contracts to supply electricity to Synergy - a loss of $52 million in 2006-07 and apparently rising. (1) Has the minister received advice from Verve on the anticipated losses likely to be incurred for the next three years; and, if so, will he table that advice? (2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(1) Has the minister received advice from Verve on the anticipated losses likely to be incurred for the next three years; and, if so, will he table that advice? (2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages.
The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(1) Has the minister received advice from Verve on the anticipated losses likely to be incurred for the next three years; and, if so, will he table that advice? (2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(2) Will the minister tell the people of Western Australia by how much electricity prices will need to rise to meet these losses and return Verve to a profitable situation? (3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(3) What impact will the soaring electricity prices have on low income earners and pensioners? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
I thank the member for his question. (1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
(1)-(3) I have spoken about this matter before. In fact, if the member for Darling Range can recall, when the financial statistics were released in August, I spoke on this issue as soon as we reconvened Parliament. I take the member back to the situation in the 2006-07 financial year. The government forecast earnings for Verve of $110 million before interest and tax; unfortunately, it came in at $30 million. I have already informed the house of this and of the number of reasons for that situation. There is a significant number of reasons, and I will come to one critical reason at the end of my answer. First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
First, members will recall that I informed the house of the significant liquid fuel burn that occurred during 2006-07, because of enforced gas outages on the line, and that we were burning those liquids at the price of oil in 2006-07; there were significantly high oil prices during that period. Maintenance costs and planned outages have occurred as a result of the maintenance overview of the entire fleet in an effort to bring the fleet back up to a status that will allow it to compete equally with the new fleets that are coming on from Verve’s competitors. There have been costs involved in that and, of course, materials and labour costs have increased as a result of those maintenance upgrades and outages.
The SPEAKER : I ask the minister to take his seat. I am positive that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not ask that question; therefore, I call him to order for the second time. Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : I think the question from the member for Darling Range arises from an article that appeared in Monday’s edition of The West Australian written by Mark Drummond about the financial issues involving Verve. By and large that article on the front page of the newspaper was correct, but I think Mark Drummond actually hit the nail on the head in an article a few pages inside in which he referred to the expansion in Western Australia of Babcock and Brown and quite clearly identified the critical cause of the problem facing Verve being frozen tariffs. Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Several members interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : That is the issue. Members should bear in mind that tariffs have not increased since 1998 but the costs of generating power have increased. Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : If Verve’s income is not meeting the costs of generation, it will be in a bit of trouble. That is exactly what Verve is facing. However, what did the opposition do and what did it fit on the government of the day during its support for the bill on the disaggregation of Western Power? It was a freeze on tariffs. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The opposition geniuses put it on the government that they would support the bill if the government continued to freeze tariffs. Now the costs of generation are outstripping the income that Verve is receiving, which is exactly the point that Mark Drummond made in his article. In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
In answer to the member’s specific question, I will not be presenting those future figures at length to the opposition. Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr J.H.D. Day : Why not? Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The reason I will not be presenting those figures is very clear. Verve is in a competitive market and it is commercially sensitive information. I will not be tabling that information at all in this place. Secondly, I will not tell the opposition by what amount those tariffs will go up. We as a government will tell the people of Western Australia when we are fit and ready.
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