Consultation on energy should have happened before the transition started!

The Shadow Minister for Energy Dr Steve Thomas says that yesterday’s announcement that the Government would consult industry on its energy needs in order to determine the Government’s own energy plan represents a failure to consult before the transition started.

“On the 14th of June 2022 the then McGowan Government announced the substance of its energy transition plan with a media release that outlined the closure of WA’s coal generation” Dr Thomas said.

“Three years later almost to the day the Cook Government yesterday announced in a media release that it will consult with industry to work out how much power we actually need in the future” Dr Thomas said.

“That work was absolutely required to deliver a properly researched and achievable plan three years ago and simply shows how far out of touch the Government is on energy.

A release from the Minister for Energy yesterday said that -

• WA Government to assess the future energy needs of industry to remain globally competitive following feedback from recent Economic Resilience Forum

• Process will inform government decision making over coming months in relation to transmission infrastructure and energy policy settings

“This work needed to be done well prior to the 2022 announcement ” Dr Thomas said.

“It means that the transition plan to date has been inadequately researched, which explains to me why it is so poorly planned.

“As I have repeatedly said, the current transition plan does not deliver adequate generation capacity, transition or storage.

“It is also currently massively underfunded, which I hope to see partly remedied in Thursday’s state budget.

“I can only hope that with yesterday’s announcement industry will finally be able to deliver that message to the Government in an open forum.

“However, I can jump the gun to let the Government know that the coming transition needs to deliver the energy businesses and families need at a price they can afford, and the current transition plan will fail to deliver that.”