Power Outages

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): Thank you very much, sir. My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Do we have sufficient capacity to meet peak summer demand if the interconnection again goes down?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:33): If the interconnector goes down? I am advised that we have—

Ms Sanderson: We should be self-sufficient, shouldn't we?

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

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —roughly 3,000 megawatts of installed thermal capacity in South Australia. Depending on the conditions, it's very hard to answer a hypothetical like that. It is like saying to the New South Wales government, 'If a coal-fired power station suddenly disconnects from the market, will there be rolling blackouts?' These types of hypothetical questions go to a lack of understanding of how the Australian Energy Market Operator runs the system—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Rubbish!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yelling out 'Rubbish!' is not a substitute for asking a question. It is important to note that this system is managed. The Leader of the Opposition asks these questions as if the onus and responsibility of the operation of a generator belongs to South Australia—it doesn't.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Screaming is no substitute for an alternative. Screaming is not a substitute for a policy. It is not a substitute—

Mr Marshall: Where's yours? Where's your policy?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am glad you asked. I'll go into our detailed policy.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I have to say that members opposite screaming interjections, again, is not a substitute for an alternative. We have seen an alternative by members opposite, and it is coal. The answer from the opposition is coal and screaming; that is the solution the Leader of the Opposition has. Rather than having a debate in this house about alternatives, rather than having a considered debate about renewable energy and base load generation and how to manage both, the Leader of the Opposition just screams and says he wants to dig more coal. That's it—that's the solution.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Mr Speaker. The Treasurer is entering debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point of order. Is the minister finished?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Always, sir.