Port Augusta Power Stations

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:37): My question is again to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Can the minister advise the house whether Alinta Energy advised him or the government that if the Port Augusta power station closed, the reduction in base load capacity would reduce security of supply and lead to a significant increase in the cost of electricity to South Australian consumers. If so, what was his response?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:38): I think it is pretty obvious what has caused an increase in electricity prices in South Australia. On the front page of the Financial Review, it is laid bare for everyone to see.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The head of the ACCC—

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader and the member for Schubert are both on two warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The ACCC head, Mr Rod Sims, has laid it out bare for everyone to see: the guilty act here is privatisation. I think it is high time the Liberal Party offered the people of this state an apology—an abject, grovelling apology.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They are the architects of the electricity system in this state.

The SPEAKER: Point of order?

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The minister is debating the topic and not actually answering the substance of the question, either.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully to what the minister has to say.

Mr Marshall: What about addressing the question?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am.

Mr Marshall: You're not.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am addressing the question. The question was about what has caused price increases in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: If the member for Stuart is going to reiterate the same point of order, the Speaker is not going to be impressed.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: No: 127, sir—misrepresenting me. The minister—

The SPEAKER: No, I have not called upon you to make a personal explanation. The reference to Botox was not a reference to the member for Stuart.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: He doesn't need it, sir.

The SPEAKER: 'May not digress, impute improper motives or make personal reflections.' I do not recall the minister doing any of those.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: No, sir. The minister said the question was about privatisation when it was not at all—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: No, I said 'prices'.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Prices—it was not at all; it was about—

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart is lucky not to be out on his ear for a frivolous point of order. He will be seated. Minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Mr Speaker, my conversations with Alinta were, quite frankly, about their inability—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on the edge.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —to turn a profit. The question I suppose leads down a path of: is the state government prepared to subsidise power generation that was privatised by our opponents? The answer to that is: the state government is not prepared to subsidise thermal generation, nor should it be. There is not a single independent economist or energy expert in the country that says that you should.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Interjecting across the chamber to try to extract an answer to suit their argument won't work. The truth—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The horrible truth the opposition will not accept is that they are the architects of a monopoly on thermal generation in this state. They are the guilty party. They are the ones who privatised these assets. They are the ones who should stand up and apologise to South Australians for selling ETSA. Selling ETSA has caused these issues.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, but the kind of argy-bargy which is so typical of question time. Minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The head of the ACCC, who has been a longstanding champion of privatisation, makes a point on the front page of the Australian Financial Review today that privatising to monopoly operators in the private sector entrenches higher costs. It is exactly what the architect of the ETSA privatisation, the Hon. Rob Lucas—not only did they make sure that we were not interconnected with other states after the state government had achieved an MOU—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —with the New South Wales government for greater interconnection to New South Wales, after they announced the privatisation of ETSA, what did they do? They tore up that MOU. Why? They tore it up to maximise the sale price of ETSA. That is why we have entrenched monopolies in this state and that is why we are seeing this market behaviour. The guilty party stand condemned. They stand condemned. They owe the people of South Australia an apology—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: An apology for what they did—an apology for privatising our assets. Keep asking these questions every day.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Is the minister finished?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir.

The SPEAKER: Does the member for MacKillop still have a point of order?

Mr WILLIAMS: Yes, he does, sir: that was debate. It was the worst answer I have ever seen in this place.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the member for MacKillop's point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, I am pleased there has been a meeting of the minds. Member for Little Para.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Did the Treasurer refer to the member for MacKillop as an 'idiot'?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir; I apologise unreservedly—unreservedly, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second time.

An honourable member: It is argy-bargy, sir.

The SPEAKER: Excellent interjection, whomever that was. The member for Little Para.