Power Outages

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Does the minister acknowledge that, with the withdrawal of Hazelwood, AEMO is forecasting sustained breaches of reliability standards in South Australia from 2019?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:20): No doubt the withdrawal of Hazelwood will cause problems in the Victorian market. Thankfully for us, we have an abundance of gas resources. There is also a generator at Pelican Point which is only being utilised to nearly half its capacity. When Hazelwood exits the market in March, I expect that ENGIE, who have positions in the market to cover, will attempt to bring that on, and we are going to do everything we can to help them bring that on.

Of course, when they bring it on, they are going to need cheap, reliable gas supplies, and we are going to do everything we can with our companies here in South Australia that do an exceptional job of mining gas in the Cooper Basin and in our other basins to make sure that they have cheap, affordable gas. What puts that at threat? Moratoriums on gas.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: You can hear the groans of reality hitting home. There is a very simple equation that South Australians need to contemplate: more gas means cheaper gas, cheaper gas means cheaper power, a Liberal government means less gas.

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: I will try again on a point of order: the Treasurer is debating the issue, sir.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. Is the Treasurer finished?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes.

The SPEAKER: Splendid. Leader.