Essential Services Commission

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (16:56): I have a supplementary to that one. Has the Treasurer taken action to ensure that the new CEO of ESCOSA, Adam Wilson, is not hindered in his role by the same ministers and senior bureaucrats who Dr Paul Kerin said were 'stymieing all efforts of reform'?

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is called to order.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: Thank you, sir. Please may I have another?

The SPEAKER: Yes, I warn you a first time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (16:56): ESCOSA is an independent body. They have the resources that they need. When they don't have the resources that they require, they ask for more and the government considers the requests as they come in. In terms of electricity, they have surplus funds from which they can conduct their consultancies and their work, and if they want to do bodies of work on water they are free to do so, but we are the owners of the asset. The people of South Australia socialise the profits from SA Water and we spend it on our hospitals, we spend it on our schools, we spend it on concessions. I make this point again: in the last year of the last Liberal government, in today's money they took over $170 million worth of dividend and we took $26 million this year.