House of Assembly: Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Contents

RAIL ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:20): Supplementary question: given the indication from the minister that there will be no increase in costs as a result of renewable energy, will he rule out that there will be no increased costs for the provision to power the electric trains?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (15:20): As I said in an earlier answer to a question—and probably the member for Bragg doesn't understand the electricity market, which is fine; it is difficult to understand—we live in a deregulated electricity market. The government does not set the price of power. Alas, the electricity assets that Mr Playford built were sold by members opposite. Therefore, as energy minister, I don't control the production and distribution of energy. If I controlled the distribution of electricity, I could control the price of electricity. Because members opposite privatised our assets, the government no longer controls the cost of electricity.