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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1041 asked in the Legislative Council on 8 October 2020 by Hon Jacqui Boydell

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

SYNERGY AND HORIZON POWER — ELECTRICITY BILL CREDITS

1041. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the minister representing the Treasurer:

I refer to a media statement, and subsequent Facebook posts, dated 4 October 2020, announcing ''Every WA household to receive a $600 electricity bill credit'', which further outlines that Synergy and Horizon Power account holders will receive a credit.

(1) Does the minister accept that this original statement is incorrect, given that many households in the north west do not hold accounts with either provider due to company housing arrangements but still have to pay their power bills?

(2) Does the minister have any plans to provide the same level of assistance to households that find themselves in this situation?

(3) If yes to (2), what will be provided to those households and when will certainty be provided to the families who will currently miss out?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by the Treasurer.

(1)–(3) The McGowan government's $600 credit will be applied from 1 November 2020, helping households ahead of Christmas. For most households, this will be directly applied to their electricity account with Synergy or Horizon Power. Households that are billed for their electricity use by other providers, such as residents of caravan parks, retirement villages, apartment buildings or communities supplied by local mining companies, will be eligible for an equivalent credit, except in exceptional circumstances. I note the member's comments on ABC radio on the need for means testing and am disappointed that the Nationals WA would seek to lock regional families like those in company housing out of receiving this benefit.

Households that are billed by other providers and that were registered for the energy concession extension scheme on 4 October 2020 will receive the credit automatically. Work is currently underway on an application process for households not billed directly by Synergy or Horizon Power and for those who are not eligible for ECES. More details will available for these customers over the coming weeks.