Holocaust survivor’s shocking electricity bill
A prominent Holocaust survivor living in Perth became a focal point of political debate in Federal Parliament on Wednesday.
The day after Speaker Peter Slipper resigned, Tony Abott said Hetty Verolme was appalled when she received her latest electricity bill, which showed an increase from $736 to $1564. He was asked to table the bill in parliament.
But Julia Gillard fired back: “The leader of the Opposition should have looked at this bill and he should have quoted in this parliament what it says about carbon pricing…’This represents an estimated increase of 9.13% for an average daily usage.”
The ABC reported that Verolme, a survivor of Bergen Belsen, had used almost double the amount of energy since her last bill.
Born in Belgium, Verolme grew up in Amsterdam before being separated from her parents and sent with her siblings to Belsen in 1943.
Her survival story and how her family was reunited after the way is told in her book, “The Children’s House of Belsen”.
She emigrated to Australia in 1954 and by 1977 was appointed to the Australian Ethnics Affairs Council.
