Tuesday, 21 June 2022

 Mr HODGETT (Croydon) (14:41): (6416) My question is to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and it relates to the new $250 power saving bonus that will be available to all Victorian households from 1 July 2022. Minister, many of our older constituents who do not have access to a computer were completely frustrated when they contacted our office during the last round of the power saving bonus scheme. That round was only available to constituents who were in receipt of concession payments. Their frustration related to not being able to easily access the $250 payment as they had to rely on a phone service that was completely overwhelmed and understaffed. They often had to leave messages and wait, sometimes for weeks, to receive a call back before even starting their application. This generated a large volume of calls and visits to my office. I am aware that participating community outreach partners were also brought on board to assist with the higher demand for those payments. However, with every Victorian household now being eligible for this latest round, what guarantee can you give Croydon constituents that they will not have to battle to get hold of overwhelmed support staff and community partners to receive their much-needed $250 payment?