Power Infrastructure

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier support the Liberal Party's call for an independent expert inquiry into precisely what caused yesterday's blackout, why it took so long to restart the grid, and what steps we can immediately take to ensure that this never happens again?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (15:03): As I said in the ministerial statement—I will repeat it for now the third time, the statement, my reference to it before and now again—there are three inquiries underway.

Mr Marshall: 'Independent expert inquiry' is the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It will be an expert inquiry from AEMO—

Mr Marshall: By the government, looking at its own failed energy policy in South Australia?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, not by us: by an independent statutory authority called the Australian Energy Market Operator. We will use their—

Mr Marshall: Aren't they the ones that operate it? You want them to do an inquiry into themselves?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Now we're pointing fingers at the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: It's question time, it's not a debate.

The Hon. P. Caica interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Colton is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: There will be a technical review, which will analyse the evidence associated with the way in which the market operated and the precise causes, the sequence of the various events. There will be evidence that will be able to be recovered and reconstructed, and that will be published as soon as possible. I don't think anybody would suggest that the Australian Energy Market Operator would do anything other than engage technical experts of an independent nature.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You never know.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's an interesting observation.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: It's an independent board appointed by Josh Frydenberg.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right: an independent board appointed by Josh Frydenberg will be supervising this matter. I would have thought—

Mr Marshall: It's in the interests of the Australian market, not the people of South Australia.

The SPEAKER: It is not a debate.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The second element of the review will, of course, be the national energy ministers—Liberal and Labor and the federal Coalition—which will supervise a further review and, of course, South Australia will conduct its own review of our response to the emergency issues that were thrown up by the crisis. That will be—

The Hon. P. Caica interjecting:

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