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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1322 asked in the Legislative Council on 5 December 2018 by Hon Dr Steve Thomas

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

STATE FLEET — CARBON OFFSETS

1322. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the Minister for Finance:

My question without notice is to the Minister for Environment representing the Treasurer.

I refer to the Tenders WA website and the $4.5 million contract awarded on 29 November 2018 for the provision of carbon offsets, which asks the proponent to —

� create a panel of suitably qualified carbon offset brokers/providers who will then be required to supply carbon credit solutions to offset the greenhouse emissions of the WA Government Fleet.

(1) Why was only one of the four successful contractors a Western Australian company, and does this represent a failure of the McGowan government's Western Australian Jobs Act?

(2) What is the estimated total annual value of carbon offsets to the greenhouse gas emissions of the WA government fleet?

(3) Will all carbon offsets for the government fleet be sourced from WA; and, if not, why not?

(4) Does the government have a policy regarding the procurement of carbon offsets; and, if not, why not?

(5) If yes to (4), will the minister please table it?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. I am answering this as the minister representing the Minister for Finance, by the way.

(1) The contract for provision of carbon offsets—request 2018/04988—was advertised as an open public tender. Under the previous government, contracts were awarded to suppliers based in China, Thailand and Germany, with the most recent contract awarded to a Western Australia–based firm dated from 2008. In this instance, only one Western Australian company submitted an offer. This offer was accepted and the company is one of four that make up the panel of suppliers for this contract.

(2) The current annual emissions of the State Fleet vehicle fleet are estimated at 50 000 tonnes of CO2. The annual value of carbon offsets is dependent on the market-based opportunities available at the time of purchase and can range from $30 000 to $900 000.

(3) Carbon offset purchases involve seeking quotes from panel suppliers at the time of purchase. The final supplier will be selected on a value-for-money basis. The availability of Western Australian–based carbon offsets can be limited, which impacts local sourcing.

(4) Under section 26AA(5) of the State Supply Commission Act 1991, the Department of Finance State Fleet is obligated to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of the vehicle fleet. This obligation will be met by a value-for-money procurement of carbon offsets under the provision of carbon offsets panel contract as required in line with State Supply Commission policies.

(5) Not applicable.