❓ Mr. Johnston asks if the Minister for Energy stated the government plans to de-merge Verve and Synergy. The Premier denies this, stating the plan is to merge them to address losses from the previous Labor government's disaggregation.
AnsweredQoN 564Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SYNERGY AND VERVE — DE-MERGER
564. Mr W.J. JOHNSTON to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Was the Minister for Energy
correct in saying that the government has plans to split the re-merged Verve
and Synergy?
564. Mr W.J. JOHNSTON to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Was the Minister for Energy
correct in saying that the government has plans to split the re-merged Verve
and Synergy?
AnswerView source ↗
We have one plan with respect to Verve and Synergy, and that
is to merge them, and the legislation will be coming to this Parliament very
shortly. I am sure that at that time, the Minister for Energy will again
explain the massive losses to this state flowing from the Labor Party's
disaggregation of those utilities. The situation is that we have existing
publicly owned energy assets lying idle or underutilised while the government,
or the utilities, are at the same time contracting to buy electricity from
other third party private users. Is that sensible? I do not think so. We have
our own state-owned plant sitting there doing nothing while we are buying more
expensive electricity from the private sector. I am sure the minister will also
articulate that we have the situation of the retailer—Synergy—having
gone out and purchased vast amounts of electricity that it cannot sell. That is
the result of the Labor Party's disaggregation. We are going to put
them together, and we are going to make sure that the left hand knows what the
right hand is doing. That is not a bad policy. That is what we are going to do.
I do not know what the minister's comments were to the media concerned—the
opposition should ask him a question—but I would imagine he was perhaps
looking into the very long-term future of what the energy structure might be in
Western Australia. But this government is not privatising, other than maybe
individual assets, and the one thing we are doing is bringing Verve and Synergy
together to get a bit of accountability and a bit of performance—and
savings for taxpayers.
is to merge them, and the legislation will be coming to this Parliament very
shortly. I am sure that at that time, the Minister for Energy will again
explain the massive losses to this state flowing from the Labor Party's
disaggregation of those utilities. The situation is that we have existing
publicly owned energy assets lying idle or underutilised while the government,
or the utilities, are at the same time contracting to buy electricity from
other third party private users. Is that sensible? I do not think so. We have
our own state-owned plant sitting there doing nothing while we are buying more
expensive electricity from the private sector. I am sure the minister will also
articulate that we have the situation of the retailer—Synergy—having
gone out and purchased vast amounts of electricity that it cannot sell. That is
the result of the Labor Party's disaggregation. We are going to put
them together, and we are going to make sure that the left hand knows what the
right hand is doing. That is not a bad policy. That is what we are going to do.
I do not know what the minister's comments were to the media concerned—the
opposition should ask him a question—but I would imagine he was perhaps
looking into the very long-term future of what the energy structure might be in
Western Australia. But this government is not privatising, other than maybe
individual assets, and the one thing we are doing is bringing Verve and Synergy
together to get a bit of accountability and a bit of performance—and
savings for taxpayers.
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