ELECTRIC VEHICLES —
CHARGING POINTS
980. Ms
L. METTAM to the Minister for Innovation and ICT:
I have a supplementary question.
Why, at the announcement, did the minister not even know how many charging
stations the electric vehicle network has? Is it because the government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members!
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
Ms L. METTAM: It is a bit of
a stretch. You do not know how much Metronet costs!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members!
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER: Stop
interjecting on me! Minister for Transport, I call you to order for the first
time.
Ms L. METTAM: Why, at the
announcement, did the minister not even know how many charging stations the EV network has? Is it because the government has
failed to do the proper work over four years, or did he just forget?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members!
Mr D.J.
KELLY replied:
We have announced the biggest
investment in EV charging networks in Australia. It is the biggest financial
investment of any state.
Ms L. Mettam: It is big, but
how much?
Mr D.J. KELLY: It is big!
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Vasse!
Mr D.J. KELLY: The network
may be big. Yes, she acknowledges that it is big! It will be one of the biggest
networks in the world. People will be able to drive from Esperance to
Kununurra.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis
interjected.
The SPEAKER: Manager of
opposition business!
Mr D.J. KELLY: People will be
able to go to Kalgoorlie. Once the spine of that network is in place and as EVs
pick up, other places will be filled up. We said that we are going to further
consult with industry about how we build that network, and that will impact
upon exactly where the charging stations are placed, how many there will be,
and their size—whether they are 25 kilowatts, 50 kilowatts or 350
kilowatts.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Vasse!
Mr D.J. KELLY: All that will
be worked out because we are going to talk to industry about that. Has the
member read the University of Western Australia report?
Ms L. Mettam: Yes, I have;
did you?
Mr D.J. KELLY: Yes. Then the
member will know that a substantial amount of work —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Vasse! I call you to order for the first and second time.
Mr D.J. KELLY: This is
extraordinary. This was the question that I was going to get asked later.
The SPEAKER: No, you were
not.
Mr
D.J. KELLY: We are so pleased
with this announcement. Industry is so pleased. Yet, once again, the opposition
is nitpicking. We are working with the industry and it is happy. It is
extraordinary. It will be one of the longest EV charging networks in the world,
the biggest in Australia, and the opposition is not happy.