Mrs HICKEY - 1995-10-17
The minister is aware that the No 2 turbine at Channel Island has been out of operation for several months. He should be aware also that several other turbines at Channel Island Power Station have a range of problems that require servicing. The minister is aware that the stand-by turbines at Berrimah break down regularly. In view of these facts, can the minister give a personal guarantee that significant outages will not occur in the Darwin/Katherine grid over the wet season?
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have answered the member's questions on a number of occasions. She has raised these issues in regard to not only Channel Island but also Ron Goodin Power Station at Alice Springs and certainly the Berrimah substation. This morning, I heard that she was making alarming statements on the radio about the investigation into the fire at Darwin River Dam. I can stand here, and we can go backwards and forwards over this matter, but I repeat what I have said to her on every occasion when she asks her questions - I obtain very good advice from the management of PAWA. I interrogate that advice very closely and I trust it. I have offered her the same facility in relation to the Ron Goodin Power Station, Channel Island, the Darwin River Dam fire etc. In fact, I spoke yesterday to the CEO of PAWA in relation to the fire investigation and I asked him to ensure that the shadow minister is briefed fully in order that she may be aware not only of the results of that investigation but also of all the technical difficulties involved in reaching decisions.
I am quite disappointed. I understand that the member for Barkly has proposed for discussion this afternoon, as a matter of definite public importance, allegations based on leaks from PAWA. Frankly, they are a slap in the face to the remainder of PAWA's management workers. The member needs to think very seriously about this. We can debate this backwards and forwards on the radio, but PAWA can brief the member either alone or together with me. I cooperated fully over a briefing she has received already in relation to her electorate. Once briefed, the member will be in a position to assess the information. If, at the end of the day, she thinks that there is a case, she can go public and we can deal with this in a logical fashion.
The member stands here and suggests to the people of the Northern Territory that they face outages in the coming wet season. Is she some kind of prophet? If there is an outage, will she stand up and say, `I told you so'? It is ridiculous. PAWA is a large public utility which has very sophisticated technical equipment.
Mrs Hickey: Are you confident that things are okay for the wet season?
Mr BURKE: We have had a peak load of 187 MW and we have 264 MW on line to meet demand to cover those eventualities. It is irresponsible of the member to alarm the public with stories that imply that the utility is in a terrible state. I addressed all of her statements in the adjournment debate. Every allegation she has made has been answered on the public record. We can go through it all again later today, and I am happy to do that.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have answered the member's questions on a number of occasions. She has raised these issues in regard to not only Channel Island but also Ron Goodin Power Station at Alice Springs and certainly the Berrimah substation. This morning, I heard that she was making alarming statements on the radio about the investigation into the fire at Darwin River Dam. I can stand here, and we can go backwards and forwards over this matter, but I repeat what I have said to her on every occasion when she asks her questions - I obtain very good advice from the management of PAWA. I interrogate that advice very closely and I trust it. I have offered her the same facility in relation to the Ron Goodin Power Station, Channel Island, the Darwin River Dam fire etc. In fact, I spoke yesterday to the CEO of PAWA in relation to the fire investigation and I asked him to ensure that the shadow minister is briefed fully in order that she may be aware not only of the results of that investigation but also of all the technical difficulties involved in reaching decisions.
I am quite disappointed. I understand that the member for Barkly has proposed for discussion this afternoon, as a matter of definite public importance, allegations based on leaks from PAWA. Frankly, they are a slap in the face to the remainder of PAWA's management workers. The member needs to think very seriously about this. We can debate this backwards and forwards on the radio, but PAWA can brief the member either alone or together with me. I cooperated fully over a briefing she has received already in relation to her electorate. Once briefed, the member will be in a position to assess the information. If, at the end of the day, she thinks that there is a case, she can go public and we can deal with this in a logical fashion.
The member stands here and suggests to the people of the Northern Territory that they face outages in the coming wet season. Is she some kind of prophet? If there is an outage, will she stand up and say, `I told you so'? It is ridiculous. PAWA is a large public utility which has very sophisticated technical equipment.
Mrs Hickey: Are you confident that things are okay for the wet season?
Mr BURKE: We have had a peak load of 187 MW and we have 264 MW on line to meet demand to cover those eventualities. It is irresponsible of the member to alarm the public with stories that imply that the utility is in a terrible state. I addressed all of her statements in the adjournment debate. Every allegation she has made has been answered on the public record. We can go through it all again later today, and I am happy to do that.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016