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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 293 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 12 May 2022 by Dr D.J. Honey

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

ELECTRICITY — FEES AND CHARGES

293. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:

I refer to the $400 relief package on power charges announced ahead of the budget, which is welcome but is short-term relief and not a long-term, cost-of-living measure that could be afforded from the hard work done by each Western Australian to bring about the massive surpluses to date. Has the minister recommended a freeze on energy fees and charges to provide long-term relief to WA families instead of a one-off sugar hit?

Mr W.J. JOHNSTON replied:

I am a little confused on how to answer that because many of the issues raised actually fall within the responsibility of the Treasurer. I cannot answer Treasury matters. If there is an announcement in today's budget regarding a cost-of-living rebate to the community, that would be a decision in the purview of the Treasurer and, therefore, beyond my responsibilities as Minister for Energy. However, let me make another point. The Liberal Party and the shadow minister opposed the $600 rebate that was granted to Western Australians. I imagine that he opposes a future opportunity to give a rebate to the community. It is interesting that when we take account of the $600 rebate that was provided to all electricity consumers in Western Australia, we see that the cost of electricity fell; it did not go up. Here is the representative of a party that put up electricity prices by over 90 per cent during its time in government. After our rebates, people now pay no more for electricity than they did beforehand. Remember that we froze electricity prices the last time we were in government; electricity prices did not go up. There is only one party in Western Australia that needs to apologise to the community for almost doubling the price of electricity—that is, the party represented by the member for Cottesloe.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order, please!

Mr M.J. Folkard interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Burns Beach, we do not need that contribution.