House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time National Electricity Market National Electricity Market Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Leader of the Opposition National Electricity Market Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): Supplementary, sir. Mr Whetstone interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned. Mr Knoll interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is called to order. Mr Knoll interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned. The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order. Leader. Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Mr MARSHALL: Why is it okay for South Australia to consume energy from coal-fired generators located in Victoria and New South Wales but not in South Australia? Mr Knoll House of Assembly Mr Knoll: Hear, hear! Great question. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Finance Minister for State Development Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:47): It is a good question. The important thing to note is that coal generation in New South Wales is the only form of generation that they have. They also have something called a hydro scheme. You may have heard of it: the Snowy Hydro Scheme. Mr Marshall House of Assembly Mr Marshall: Get a briefing. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Get a briefing? Okay, so Snowy is not operating in New South Wales—doesn't exist. No, you only buy coal. You can choose the electrons. You can say, 'This electron is from coal and that electron is from Snowy. The coal one is cheaper than the Snowy one.' I have to say: how ridiculous. Let's talk about Victoria. Who else are they interconnected to? Mr Picton House of Assembly Mr Picton: Tasmania. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Tasmanian hydro. I have to say: how ridiculous. It just shows the level of discourse we have from the opposition, when they do not understand their National Electricity Market, they do not understand how power is dispatched, they do not understand what levels of generation are in place in different states. It is just embarrassing for the Leader of the Opposition. Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN House of Assembly Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: debate. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I don't uphold the point of order because the debate, insofar as the Treasurer was debating—and he probably was—was triggered by the torrent of interjections. My view is that people who take points of order should come to them with clean hands. The leader.