❓ Question regarding a hydrogen project grant in Central Wheatbelt. Premier confirms $1.5M was provided, but further funding ceased due to unmet milestones, highlighting government's commitment to renewable energy and stringent grant oversight.
AnsweredQoN 20Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Infinite Green Energy
20. Mr Lachlan Hunter to the Premier :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I congratulate you on your
election to the role of Speaker, given it is my first time speaking.
I
refer to Infinite Green Energy, which proposed a major hydrogen project in my
electorate of Central Wheatbelt.
(1) Can the Premier confirm whether his government
handed over $1.5 million of the $5 million grant announced in July 2023?
(2) Given that 90% of Australia's $100 billion
hydrogen pipeline remains stuck at the concept stage, why did the government
proceed with funding without ensuring the company was even solvent and without
even meeting appropriate milestones?
20. Mr Lachlan Hunter to the Premier :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I congratulate you on your
election to the role of Speaker, given it is my first time speaking.
I
refer to Infinite Green Energy, which proposed a major hydrogen project in my
electorate of Central Wheatbelt.
(1) Can the Premier confirm whether his government
handed over $1.5 million of the $5 million grant announced in July 2023?
(2) Given that 90% of Australia's $100 billion
hydrogen pipeline remains stuck at the concept stage, why did the government
proceed with funding without ensuring the company was even solvent and without
even meeting appropriate milestones?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) We on this side actually believe
that climate change is a thing. We on this side actually believe in renewable
energy playing an important role as part of our future. We on this side believe
that Western Australia can become a renewable energy powerhouse and create
thousands and thousands of jobs and generations of prosperity that come with
it. This is part of our Made in WA plan, which is about ensuring that we
benefit from the availability of affordable, reliable renewable energy to
stimulate and create a whole new sector and a whole new generation of
manufacturing opportunities in Western Australia. It is because of our vision
that the people of Western Australia decided they would give us another turn on
the government benches, because they see that we have a plan for Western
Australia to take this state forward. The other thing they probably did was
look at the other side and see that it had no plan and no policies—nothing
to provide the people of Western Australia with any confidence that if the
Liberal and National Parties formed government, they would take this state
forward.
Clearly, we
are working hard with industry to make sure that we can overcome some of the
technical, commercial and engineering issues that these nascent industries
confront. That is one of the reasons why we have our Investment Attraction Fund.
It is an important opportunity to back companies to ensure that they be a part
of Western Australia's prosperous future. When we make these funds available,
they are on the basis of very stringent guidelines and very detailed scrutiny
in relation to those companies: Can they deliver the project? What is their
commerciality? Are they able to service the grant and, ultimately, can they
meet the milestones associated with that particular grant? The departments are
assisted by a range of consultants who have oversight of the books of these
companies to ensure that all these things are met.
In this case,
Infinite Green, when it came to the government, said it wanted to create a
hydrogen-based industry in the member for Central Wheatbelt's electorate. It
was a huge opportunity for the people living in Northam and in that whole area to
be part of the global supply chain of renewable energy. A great opportunity. It
is one that if we could get it and seize that opportunity, we would take it,
obviously. Upon initial assessment, the department gave us the advice that we
should provide Infinite Green a grant that would see that opportunity come to
light. Now, as the member says, I think around about $1.5 million was made
available to the company as part of the initial stage of its project. It then
became apparent that it was not able to meet subsequent milestones. Therefore,
only $1.5 million of its $5 million grant was actually provided to the company,
and it is because of this oversight that we were not exposed to any more
financial risk in relation to the way that company worked.
I do not get
any great satisfaction from being able to say that that company will only
receive $1.5 million of its $5 million grant. We would love to see Infinite
Green move forward and really be a pioneer in our merging renewable and
hydrogen industries. But the fact of the matter is it did not meet its
milestones, so we had to stop funding it. That is an important part of managing
these sort of grants.
that climate change is a thing. We on this side actually believe in renewable
energy playing an important role as part of our future. We on this side believe
that Western Australia can become a renewable energy powerhouse and create
thousands and thousands of jobs and generations of prosperity that come with
it. This is part of our Made in WA plan, which is about ensuring that we
benefit from the availability of affordable, reliable renewable energy to
stimulate and create a whole new sector and a whole new generation of
manufacturing opportunities in Western Australia. It is because of our vision
that the people of Western Australia decided they would give us another turn on
the government benches, because they see that we have a plan for Western
Australia to take this state forward. The other thing they probably did was
look at the other side and see that it had no plan and no policies—nothing
to provide the people of Western Australia with any confidence that if the
Liberal and National Parties formed government, they would take this state
forward.
Clearly, we
are working hard with industry to make sure that we can overcome some of the
technical, commercial and engineering issues that these nascent industries
confront. That is one of the reasons why we have our Investment Attraction Fund.
It is an important opportunity to back companies to ensure that they be a part
of Western Australia's prosperous future. When we make these funds available,
they are on the basis of very stringent guidelines and very detailed scrutiny
in relation to those companies: Can they deliver the project? What is their
commerciality? Are they able to service the grant and, ultimately, can they
meet the milestones associated with that particular grant? The departments are
assisted by a range of consultants who have oversight of the books of these
companies to ensure that all these things are met.
In this case,
Infinite Green, when it came to the government, said it wanted to create a
hydrogen-based industry in the member for Central Wheatbelt's electorate. It
was a huge opportunity for the people living in Northam and in that whole area to
be part of the global supply chain of renewable energy. A great opportunity. It
is one that if we could get it and seize that opportunity, we would take it,
obviously. Upon initial assessment, the department gave us the advice that we
should provide Infinite Green a grant that would see that opportunity come to
light. Now, as the member says, I think around about $1.5 million was made
available to the company as part of the initial stage of its project. It then
became apparent that it was not able to meet subsequent milestones. Therefore,
only $1.5 million of its $5 million grant was actually provided to the company,
and it is because of this oversight that we were not exposed to any more
financial risk in relation to the way that company worked.
I do not get
any great satisfaction from being able to say that that company will only
receive $1.5 million of its $5 million grant. We would love to see Infinite
Green move forward and really be a pioneer in our merging renewable and
hydrogen industries. But the fact of the matter is it did not meet its
milestones, so we had to stop funding it. That is an important part of managing
these sort of grants.
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.