❓ Mr Nalder questions the Minister for Energy about Synergy's financial losses, accusing the government of mismanagement. The Minister refutes the claim, blaming the previous government's lack of reform despite significant cash injections into Synergy.
AnsweredQoN 893Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SYNERGY — 2018–19 ANNUAL REPORT
893. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Minister for Energy:
I
have a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that when he came to
government, Synergy's accumulated losses were $187 million, and
that has now blown out to over $1 billion; and is this yet another example of
the government's financial and economic mismanagement?
893. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Minister for Energy:
I
have a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that when he came to
government, Synergy's accumulated losses were $187 million, and
that has now blown out to over $1 billion; and is this yet another example of
the government's financial and economic mismanagement?
AnswerView source ↗
It
must be a parallel universe. The reason a small loss was recorded on Synergy's
balance sheet is because the former government pumped $2 577 million into it.
The former government put in over $2.5 billion and that is why the accounting
treatment was not that it needed to show a loss. The former government pumped
all that cash in. The great tragedy of that is that it did not do anything to
reform the business; indeed, $2.5 billion would have transformed Synergy and
made it a powerful opportunity for future growth in this state but, instead, it
made no reforms—none at all. The former government had two Ministers
for Energy. The first was Hon Peter
Collier , who is a decent man but he
was just not interested in being the Minister for Energy. The second was the
sad member for Riverton, who knew what to do but could not do it because the
Premier of the day, Hon Colin Barnett, would not let him do it. The former
government wasted eight and a half years. It lost $320 million on refurbishing
a power station that was not needed and did not work, and $2 577 million of
taxpayers' money was the only reason that Synergy's balance
sheet was protected. That is the past and we now need to face the future.
I said to the member during the
budget estimates in May, I said in this chamber the last time Parliament met,
and I will say again now: Synergy's capital position will have to be
addressed by the government, and that is something that the Treasurer, the
Premier and all the cabinet understand. But the idea that we are just going to
pump cash in from taxpayers and expect no reform is not the way of the future.
That is the way of the past. It led to those huge taxpayer subsidies and it is
not going to be repeated.
The SPEAKER : That is the end
of question time.
must be a parallel universe. The reason a small loss was recorded on Synergy's
balance sheet is because the former government pumped $2 577 million into it.
The former government put in over $2.5 billion and that is why the accounting
treatment was not that it needed to show a loss. The former government pumped
all that cash in. The great tragedy of that is that it did not do anything to
reform the business; indeed, $2.5 billion would have transformed Synergy and
made it a powerful opportunity for future growth in this state but, instead, it
made no reforms—none at all. The former government had two Ministers
for Energy. The first was Hon Peter
Collier , who is a decent man but he
was just not interested in being the Minister for Energy. The second was the
sad member for Riverton, who knew what to do but could not do it because the
Premier of the day, Hon Colin Barnett, would not let him do it. The former
government wasted eight and a half years. It lost $320 million on refurbishing
a power station that was not needed and did not work, and $2 577 million of
taxpayers' money was the only reason that Synergy's balance
sheet was protected. That is the past and we now need to face the future.
I said to the member during the
budget estimates in May, I said in this chamber the last time Parliament met,
and I will say again now: Synergy's capital position will have to be
addressed by the government, and that is something that the Treasurer, the
Premier and all the cabinet understand. But the idea that we are just going to
pump cash in from taxpayers and expect no reform is not the way of the future.
That is the way of the past. It led to those huge taxpayer subsidies and it is
not going to be repeated.
The SPEAKER : That is the end
of question time.
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