Mrs HICKEY - 1998-02-17
A report, which I tabled earlier, highlights serious maintenance problems affecting the power supply to Darwin residents. This report states:
No preventive maintenance programs are currently in place on the majority of power distribution equipment ...
It is clear that the failures were due to a lack of maintenance.
The report recommends that 'a program of inspection and maintenance of all underground equipment be re-established as a matter of priority'. Why has the Country Liberal Party administration allowed the maintenance of the Territory public's power supply to reach such a poor level? Will the minister admit to the 500 households and businesses in the Tiwi and Wanguri areas that they suffered significant losses because his government failed to provide a reliable power supply, and failed in its basic duty to guarantee that power supply?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what I will admit to is that the fact ...
Mr Bailey: It was the other bloke's fault.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: ... that the feeder box blew out, primarily as a result of the ingress of water that leaked through a gasket at the top of the equipment.
Mr Stirling: Due to a lack of maintenance.
Mr POOLE: Not at all.
Mr Stirling: That is what the report stated.
Mr Bailey: No maintenance.
Mr Manzie: Be quiet and let him answer the question, you clown.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Do you want to hear the answer or not? If not, the minister may sit down and we will move on to the next question.
Mr POOLE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The moisture entered the unit via the top cover gasket which had deteriorated over a period of time. The unit was installed more than 20 years ago, and the maintenance that was required to be done to that unit by the manufacturer apparently had been done. I cannot be held responsible for the failure of a piece of equipment. Obviously ...
Mr Bailey: Why can't the recent changes ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: Obviously, it resulted in a major outage of the electricity supply. As a result, the Power and
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Water Authority has looked at similar types of equipment throughout the Darwin suburbs. It has upgraded its program of inspection and maintenance on the underground distribution system, and that has been commenced as a matter of priority. Where appropriate, PAWA is using such things as thermal image vision equipment to check the condition of connections because much of this equipment is sealed inside boxes and cannot be checked visually. Therefore, thermal equipment is being used to test the validity of the structure. The authority is checking devices, such as load-break elbows, one of which incidentally was the cause of this failure of the equipment.
As I said in my previous answer, it is not a matter of the government not spending a large amount of money on maintenance ...
Mr Stirling: You cut your budget.
Mr POOLE: We have not. I read out ...
Mr Stirling: It is in the report.
Mr POOLE: I read out the figures for our expenditure over the last 5 or 6 years. I ask the honourable member to point out where the government has cut the budget. It is simply not true.
The dry cable termination boxes on ring main units will be modified as required. PAWA has decided to use new technical expertise to change some of the power boxes of the type that failed. Apparently, in the old days - I am talking about 20 years ago - the tops of the boxes were filled with such materials as pitch when they were installed. As a result, it is not possible to see the connection. The pitch is to be replaced with sefton jelly. That will enable the high-voltage cables to be disconnected quite easily whereas, in previous times, it has been an extremely labour intensive exercise, accounting for the bulk of the time required to fix the fault.
The Power and Water Authority is well aware of the problems, and it has taken steps to rectify them. For the opposition to say that the government is not spending money on repairs and maintenance is absolute nonsense. This year, the authority has a $20m budget for repairs and maintenance. That program has never been shelved or deferred by any previous CLP government.
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No preventive maintenance programs are currently in place on the majority of power distribution equipment ...
It is clear that the failures were due to a lack of maintenance.
The report recommends that 'a program of inspection and maintenance of all underground equipment be re-established as a matter of priority'. Why has the Country Liberal Party administration allowed the maintenance of the Territory public's power supply to reach such a poor level? Will the minister admit to the 500 households and businesses in the Tiwi and Wanguri areas that they suffered significant losses because his government failed to provide a reliable power supply, and failed in its basic duty to guarantee that power supply?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what I will admit to is that the fact ...
Mr Bailey: It was the other bloke's fault.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: ... that the feeder box blew out, primarily as a result of the ingress of water that leaked through a gasket at the top of the equipment.
Mr Stirling: Due to a lack of maintenance.
Mr POOLE: Not at all.
Mr Stirling: That is what the report stated.
Mr Bailey: No maintenance.
Mr Manzie: Be quiet and let him answer the question, you clown.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Do you want to hear the answer or not? If not, the minister may sit down and we will move on to the next question.
Mr POOLE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The moisture entered the unit via the top cover gasket which had deteriorated over a period of time. The unit was installed more than 20 years ago, and the maintenance that was required to be done to that unit by the manufacturer apparently had been done. I cannot be held responsible for the failure of a piece of equipment. Obviously ...
Mr Bailey: Why can't the recent changes ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr POOLE: Obviously, it resulted in a major outage of the electricity supply. As a result, the Power and
Page 3
Water Authority has looked at similar types of equipment throughout the Darwin suburbs. It has upgraded its program of inspection and maintenance on the underground distribution system, and that has been commenced as a matter of priority. Where appropriate, PAWA is using such things as thermal image vision equipment to check the condition of connections because much of this equipment is sealed inside boxes and cannot be checked visually. Therefore, thermal equipment is being used to test the validity of the structure. The authority is checking devices, such as load-break elbows, one of which incidentally was the cause of this failure of the equipment.
As I said in my previous answer, it is not a matter of the government not spending a large amount of money on maintenance ...
Mr Stirling: You cut your budget.
Mr POOLE: We have not. I read out ...
Mr Stirling: It is in the report.
Mr POOLE: I read out the figures for our expenditure over the last 5 or 6 years. I ask the honourable member to point out where the government has cut the budget. It is simply not true.
The dry cable termination boxes on ring main units will be modified as required. PAWA has decided to use new technical expertise to change some of the power boxes of the type that failed. Apparently, in the old days - I am talking about 20 years ago - the tops of the boxes were filled with such materials as pitch when they were installed. As a result, it is not possible to see the connection. The pitch is to be replaced with sefton jelly. That will enable the high-voltage cables to be disconnected quite easily whereas, in previous times, it has been an extremely labour intensive exercise, accounting for the bulk of the time required to fix the fault.
The Power and Water Authority is well aware of the problems, and it has taken steps to rectify them. For the opposition to say that the government is not spending money on repairs and maintenance is absolute nonsense. This year, the authority has a $20m budget for repairs and maintenance. That program has never been shelved or deferred by any previous CLP government.
Page 4
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016