Power Outages

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Can the minister explain to the house why the people on Lower Eyre Peninsula endured a much longer blackout than most of the rest of the state despite Port Lincoln having a generator, owned by Synergen and contracted to ElectraNet, which is designed to provide backup power in the event of blackout?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:47): That is an excellent question by a local member concerned about his community, and I applaud him for asking that question because it does need to be understood. I understand there was a fault. The report doesn't go into the details of what that fault was, but I would certainly like to get to the bottom of it, and I think the owners of that generator have a lot of explaining to do to the people of Lower Eyre Peninsula.

Mr Marshall: Have you sought an explanation?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, I have. I met with the chief executive of the company that owns the generators and I had a long discussion with him and his team about what's occurring. They are in the middle of an investigation and obviously will be making that available. I am happy to offer a private briefing—a preliminary briefing—to the member about what occurred. Given that there's a lot of technical details about what this is, until they get to the bottom of it—I think it will have some serious repercussions for that company.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I think the childish interjections of the Leader of the Opposition while I am trying to give an explanation to a very good and decent question just show the level of maturity of the Leader of the Opposition. The member for Flinders is worried about the city of Port Lincoln and Lower Eyre Peninsula, and he asked a decent and good question and I am trying to answer it for him. I have to say that the childish interjections by the Leader of the Opposition go to the quality of his character.

Mr PISONI: Point of order, sir: the minister is imputing improper motives.

The SPEAKER: No, he is not imputing improper motives, he is just insulting the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr Gardner: It is a personal reflection; it is the same standing order.

The SPEAKER: It is a personal reflection rather than imputing—

Mr PISONI: I ask that he withdraw and apologise.

The SPEAKER: No, the leader has to do that. The leader has to say he is offended and hurt.

Mr MARSHALL: Certainly, sir, I am offended by those statements and I ask the Treasurer to withdraw and apologise.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, if I have upset the gentle and fragile nature of the leader, I apologise.

The SPEAKER: No, just a withdrawal would be good.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I withdraw, sir.

The SPEAKER: Good, yes, that's sufficient, thanks. A withdrawal will be sufficient, thanks.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, sir. I do, I withdraw.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They are, Mr Speaker. When the final investigation is conducted, obviously there will be consequences for the people who offer the generation. I have to say again that attempting to answer a very good question with the constant interjections about the way we run a privately-owned electricity system that members opposite privatised is a bit rich. It's just a bit rich.

I have to say that the people of Port Lincoln should not have experienced the blackouts for the period of the time that they did, and the private operators who own that generator and the private operators who own the distribution network who get power to Port Lincoln from other sources when that generator is not on will have to explain to the independent regulator what occurred. When they are able to finalise that investigation and make it publicly available, we will have more to say about it, but, again, it goes to the root cause of the problem, which is that the people of Port Lincoln were left to rely on private operators and generators and the guilty party here are the members opposite.

Ms CHAPMAN: Supplementary?

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna.