Carbon Tax

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): Supplementary, sir.

The SPEAKER: Further supplementary.

Mr MARSHALL: What likely decrease in electricity prices could South Australian consumers enjoy if the federal opposition removed their opposition to removing the carbon tax at the federal level?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:03): Point one is that I'm not sure what will occur in the Australian Senate when that measure—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I don't think anyone knows, no. I don't know what will occur, so I am not sure what pricing mechanism will be in place, so I consider the question to be probably hypothetical because I'm not sure that anyone can make a determination on what the effect will be on power prices on the basis of a tax being removed.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I know you are quick to judge before you have any evidence, but just let me finish.

The SPEAKER: Judge not—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Lest ye be judged, sir. That's how I live my life.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: According to the Scriptures, sir.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: That's why I'm often keen to find the splinter in my brother's eye. It's a very large splinter. I do not know what the Australian Senate or the commonwealth parliament will give us in terms of a price on carbon, if any. Given that the commonwealth government has said that the compensation package will stay in place, I think it is very difficult to make a balanced judgement on what the impact on power prices will be in South Australia. It is fair to say that every time people meddle with a market-based system there are impacts, sometimes positive, sometimes negative, and it's very difficult to see—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Exactly. Often, when people make investments or underinvestments in capital, that has a net effect on what happens in the NEM and that rolls through to power prices. We've taken some steps to be sure that South Australians can get competitive pricing in the electricity market. We've deregulated retail pricing, and I note that members opposite heralded that occasion by saying we should have done it earlier, even though they've never called on us to do it before.

I do say this: I will be very keen to see what comes out of the Senate after 1 July in terms of a pricing mechanism on carbon, whether or not the Senate will allow that. If they don't, I suspect things will remain as they are. If there is a change, there may be a compromise position that we don't know about yet, so I can't answer the member's question and give an accurate response to the parliament because I do not know what the Senate will do. I think it is clear to say that given the uncertainty—

Ms Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Hang on, Isobel. You have to listen to the evidence first.

Ms Redmond: You can't call me Isobel. I'm the member for Heysen.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Oh, you respect the institution of the parliament now, do you? I will wait and see what the Independents dish up to the government and what the opposition does. I think it's too early to say what the impacts will be, but we will be watching it very closely.