❓ Dr. Honey questions the continued use of consultants for Griffin Coal despite significant government funding. The Premier defends the use of consultants to ensure reliable electricity supply during the transition to renewable energy, citing technical expertise and the need for open-book disclosure from private companies.
AnsweredQoN 648Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GRIFFIN COAL — GOVERNMENT CONSULTANTS
648. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the answer giving in the
Legislative Council to a question asked by Hon Dr Steve Thomas regarding the
$2.9 million-plus spent on consulting fees on Griffin Coal matters.
(1) Given the
government has already allocated $220 million of financial assistance to
Griffin Coal, why are three of those consulting firms still engaged and what
are they doing?
(2) In the
interest of transparency and accountability, will the Premier release the work
of these consultants, even in a redacted form that removes any genuine
commercially confidential information?
648. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the answer giving in the
Legislative Council to a question asked by Hon Dr Steve Thomas regarding the
$2.9 million-plus spent on consulting fees on Griffin Coal matters.
(1) Given the
government has already allocated $220 million of financial assistance to
Griffin Coal, why are three of those consulting firms still engaged and what
are they doing?
(2) In the
interest of transparency and accountability, will the Premier release the work
of these consultants, even in a redacted form that removes any genuine
commercially confidential information?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. It goes to several aspects of the work we
are trying to do in the Collie basin through Griffin Coal and Bluewaters power
station. Our objective is to keep the lights on and the air conditioners
running, and make sure that our industries can continue to function through
reliable, affordable electricity. We will make sure that we can keep the
Griffin coal mine open and Bluewaters going
until the point in time when we have enough renewable energy in the system so
that we do not require a coal-fired power station, which we estimate
will be around 30 June 2026.
In
the meantime, we have to keep the lights on. These consultant firms are working
on this project because , in the first instance, we need to make sure
that Griffin Coal continues to provide coal to Bluewaters power station in a manner
that is both effective and affordable. We do not want to give it more money
than we have to to make sure that coal keeps coming out of the ground. Many of
these consultant firms are advising us on the technical and engineering issues
that relate to the functioning of a coalmine. We have a lot of expertise in
government, but the fact of the matter is that we do not have the expertise on
those sorts of technical issues.
One of the other things that we
require as part of this process is for all participants to have full open-book
disclosure in terms of their current operations and their financial situation.
We need to make sure that that happens in a way in which they feel confident
they can provide that information to a firm. That firm will then distil that
information and provide it to government in an appropriate form that does not
betray or contravene the commercial sensitivities of that information.
We will continue to have all hands
on deck on this issue for the next couple of years. Why is that? It is because
we want to keep the lights on, the air conditioners running and our factories
moving. It is an unfortunate legacy that has been bequeathed to us all. This is
a legacy contract and, as a result, we have to undertake these regrettable
steps to ensure that the Griffin coalmine can keep going and the Bluewaters
power station can continue to be fed the coal it needs to keep the lights on
and the air conditioners running.
I will continue to make sure that
we provide as much information to the Parliament as we possibly can because we
understand that this is an extraordinary situation. We understand that there is
a thirst for this knowledge and that members feel they have an obligation to
have it as part of their efforts to keep the government accountable. We fully
respect that, and in that spirit, we will provide as much information to the
Parliament as we can without betraying the commercial sensitivities associated
with the operation of those private companies.
To finish, the confidence of these
companies to work with us in an open book, full-disclosure manner is absolutely
paramount to making sure that we are successful. That is why we utilise the
expertise of these consultant firms to distil that information for our purposes
so that we can not only make good decisions, but also continue to provide these
companies with the confidence that they can work together with us on a solution.
thank the member for the question. It goes to several aspects of the work we
are trying to do in the Collie basin through Griffin Coal and Bluewaters power
station. Our objective is to keep the lights on and the air conditioners
running, and make sure that our industries can continue to function through
reliable, affordable electricity. We will make sure that we can keep the
Griffin coal mine open and Bluewaters going
until the point in time when we have enough renewable energy in the system so
that we do not require a coal-fired power station, which we estimate
will be around 30 June 2026.
In
the meantime, we have to keep the lights on. These consultant firms are working
on this project because , in the first instance, we need to make sure
that Griffin Coal continues to provide coal to Bluewaters power station in a manner
that is both effective and affordable. We do not want to give it more money
than we have to to make sure that coal keeps coming out of the ground. Many of
these consultant firms are advising us on the technical and engineering issues
that relate to the functioning of a coalmine. We have a lot of expertise in
government, but the fact of the matter is that we do not have the expertise on
those sorts of technical issues.
One of the other things that we
require as part of this process is for all participants to have full open-book
disclosure in terms of their current operations and their financial situation.
We need to make sure that that happens in a way in which they feel confident
they can provide that information to a firm. That firm will then distil that
information and provide it to government in an appropriate form that does not
betray or contravene the commercial sensitivities of that information.
We will continue to have all hands
on deck on this issue for the next couple of years. Why is that? It is because
we want to keep the lights on, the air conditioners running and our factories
moving. It is an unfortunate legacy that has been bequeathed to us all. This is
a legacy contract and, as a result, we have to undertake these regrettable
steps to ensure that the Griffin coalmine can keep going and the Bluewaters
power station can continue to be fed the coal it needs to keep the lights on
and the air conditioners running.
I will continue to make sure that
we provide as much information to the Parliament as we possibly can because we
understand that this is an extraordinary situation. We understand that there is
a thirst for this knowledge and that members feel they have an obligation to
have it as part of their efforts to keep the government accountable. We fully
respect that, and in that spirit, we will provide as much information to the
Parliament as we can without betraying the commercial sensitivities associated
with the operation of those private companies.
To finish, the confidence of these
companies to work with us in an open book, full-disclosure manner is absolutely
paramount to making sure that we are successful. That is why we utilise the
expertise of these consultant firms to distil that information for our purposes
so that we can not only make good decisions, but also continue to provide these
companies with the confidence that they can work together with us on a solution.
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.