Member for Central Wheatbelt Hon Mia Davies MLA has said the power failures and chaos that continually impact the region could be avoided if the Labor Government paid attention to the experts in Western Power.
“The Labor Government has failed to listen and as a result we saw extended outages that created havoc for homes and businesses,” Ms Davies said.
“Mother nature can be unpredictable, but there is a responsibility for Government to build resilience and back-up options into our essential infrastructure.
“The prolonged outages and widespread impact demonstrate they have been ignoring the basics and leaving our communities exposed.”
Western Power warnings in the 2023-24 State Budget clearly outlined “the distribution network is facing both reliability and safety challenges in the regions”.
In the 2022-23 State Budget papers the agency said: “In recent times, extreme climate events have had a significant impact on the network. Climate change will see a need for greater emphasis on disaster preparedness and increase the challenge of protecting grid infrastructure and supply to vulnerable communities.
Ms Davies said Labor were spending billions on Metronet, a project experiencing cost blow-outs and delays, while essential power and water infrastructure in the bush had been shoved to the backburner.
“It is a matter of safety, of health and well-being and of economic importance that we have safe, reliable power and water in the Wheatbelt,” Ms Davies said.
“For example, when I was Minister for Water the previous Government, we invested over $32 million allocated to upgrade the farmland water supply, reducing leaks, and worked to improve reliability for customers who regularly experienced water supply issues.
“In contrast, this Government has failed to build resilience or invest in our Wheatbelt infrastructure, and the outcome has been predictable failures and outages.”
She called on the Labor Government to prioritise spending on building the resilience of the network in the May budget saying her constituents deserved better than to be left sweltering in summer for days on end, unable to use their phones, run their businesses or stay safe and comfortable in their own homes.
For media enquiries please contact Mia Davies on 9041 1702 (Merredin office), 9622 2871 (Northam office) or email mia.davies@mp.wa.gov.au.
