Port Augusta Power Stations

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): My question is to the Premier. Given the uncertainty of the future of power generation and related industries in Port Augusta since before 2012, what has the government been doing for the past three years to secure the future of those workers who face the prospect of losing their jobs before 2018?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:36): The idea that we can keep open a brown coal-fired power station quite frankly is ridiculous. Coal as a form of commodity to keep power stations open is dying, and it is dying around the world.

Mr Pederick: You just said you were relying on the Victorian connector. That is coal.

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Let's just remember that at Port Augusta that power station was not operating at full capacity; in fact, it was not operating throughout the entire year either. The reason it was not doing that is that demand in the grid is down. Demand in the grid is down. These are national factors. We are part of a national electricity market. We do not just generate the power we need for this state, so the idea about the interconnector between Victoria is also for us to be able to move our cheaper renewable energy into Victoria, so we want a truly national market.

Again, I know members opposite were opposed to interconnection when they were last in office because they wanted to fatten the lamb before sale for ETSA, so they did all they could to try to stop interconnection. We believe in more interconnection because we want to have a truly competitive national electricity market, but the idea that we could somehow keep open a coal-fired generator like the one supplied by coal from Leigh Creek quite frankly is not feasible. It is not feasible, and the reason it is not feasible, given the investments that Alinta have made, is that there is not enough demand in the system.

This is a national problem. We need a national response to grow demand in the system. We need more industrial growth, we need more investment in our industries, perhaps more things like manufacturing our submarines, manufacturing more frigates would increase demand. But instead, we have seen with the new policy of direct action no direct investment in coal-fired generators, no assistance from direct action into coal-fired power stations—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert may have a salient point but he is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The truth is that no government could have saved Alinta, no government could have saved those workers at Leigh Creek, but what we can do is offer them new opportunities, offer them new jobs, by creating the opportunities in the state budget by trying to make sure that we incentivise business to grow.

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I am glad the students from East Marden Primary School have left and will not see their member warned for the second and final time.