❓ Question regarding Horizon Power's measures to mitigate the impact of power outages on cashless welfare card users in Kununurra. The Minister details upgrades to reduce outage duration.
AnsweredQoN 969Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
HORIZON POWER — POWER OUTAGES — CASHLESS DEBIT CARD
969. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the Leader of the
House representing the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the question I asked
yesterday on this matter and the apparent misunderstanding in the answer
provided. My question is again in reference to power outages experienced by
residents and businesses on Tuesday in Kununurra that prevented them from
purchasing goods and services using EFTPOS machines.
(1) What measures
does Horizon Power have in place to ensure that people using the cashless
welfare card to pay for goods and services—for example, fuel and food—are
not affected by power outages that render EFTPOS machines useless?
(2) What measures
does Horizon Power have in place to ensure that people using the cashless
welfare card to pay for goods and services—for example fuel and food—will
not be adversely affected by power outages that render EFTPOS machines useless
during the upcoming wet season?
(3) Is Horizon
Power working with state and federal agencies overseeing the cashless welfare
card trial in the East Kimberley to find a solution to this problem?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
969. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the Leader of the
House representing the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the question I asked
yesterday on this matter and the apparent misunderstanding in the answer
provided. My question is again in reference to power outages experienced by
residents and businesses on Tuesday in Kununurra that prevented them from
purchasing goods and services using EFTPOS machines.
(1) What measures
does Horizon Power have in place to ensure that people using the cashless
welfare card to pay for goods and services—for example, fuel and food—are
not affected by power outages that render EFTPOS machines useless?
(2) What measures
does Horizon Power have in place to ensure that people using the cashless
welfare card to pay for goods and services—for example fuel and food—will
not be adversely affected by power outages that render EFTPOS machines useless
during the upcoming wet season?
(3) Is Horizon
Power working with state and federal agencies overseeing the cashless welfare
card trial in the East Kimberley to find a solution to this problem?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) In the event
of a power outage, all customers looking to use an EFTPOS machine for payment
of goods or services will be impacted, which includes those customers using a cashless
welfare card. Individual goods and services retailers may have different ways
of dealing with this issue. Horizon Power's role is to minimise the
frequency and duration of unplanned outages on its network.
(2) Over the past
12 months, Horizon Power and the state government have invested $11.5 million
to upgrade the Kununurra backup power station. This will see unplanned outages
decrease from, on average, 45 minutes, to only a couple of minutes. This means
that all customers paying by EFTPOS, including those using a cashless welfare
card, will have minimal interruptions when using this method of payment.
(3) No.
(4) All customers
using EFTPOS are impacted when there is an unplanned power outage. Horizon
Power has taken significant steps to reduce unplanned power outages in
Kununurra and minimise the impact on all customers.
of the question.
(1) In the event
of a power outage, all customers looking to use an EFTPOS machine for payment
of goods or services will be impacted, which includes those customers using a cashless
welfare card. Individual goods and services retailers may have different ways
of dealing with this issue. Horizon Power's role is to minimise the
frequency and duration of unplanned outages on its network.
(2) Over the past
12 months, Horizon Power and the state government have invested $11.5 million
to upgrade the Kununurra backup power station. This will see unplanned outages
decrease from, on average, 45 minutes, to only a couple of minutes. This means
that all customers paying by EFTPOS, including those using a cashless welfare
card, will have minimal interruptions when using this method of payment.
(3) No.
(4) All customers
using EFTPOS are impacted when there is an unplanned power outage. Horizon
Power has taken significant steps to reduce unplanned power outages in
Kununurra and minimise the impact on all customers.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.