Electricity Prices

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): That's right, sir. We will stand by you. My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Does the government agree with comments made by prominent Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith when he publicly stated this morning in the media that, as a businessman, 'the only reason I can see why we can't compete with France is the very high power costs in South Australia'?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:25): I will go further than that. The AI report today is showing that prices across the country are becoming unmanageable.

An honourable member: He didn't talk about across the country.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I'm going further. Basically, the AI Group—Innes Willox, not exactly a great friend of the Labor movement—has put out a report saying that wholesale prices are going up nearly 47 per cent in New South Wales. Safe, base load coal generation, cheap and affordable, has a 47 per cent increase. The NEM is broken. In Victoria, the increase is 52 per cent for brown coal base load. The NEM is broken. Prices are increasing, yet members opposite want to blame renewable energy. They want to blame the wind and the sun.

The SPEAKER: I think the Treasurer has fully canvassed that line of argument.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you for your advice and help, sir; it is greatly useful. I think what industry is saying across the country is that the NEM is so fractured and so broken that prices are increasing in Queensland, they are increasing in New South Wales, they are increasing in Victoria and they are increasing here. They are too high. They need to come down, and it needs national leadership because this is not a state issue: this is a national issue. Why is it that, after coal has been championed for so long, we are seeing price increases of 47 per cent in New South Wales? If coal is so cheap and so reliable, why has its price increased by 47 per cent?

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Exactly. If it's so reliable, why was one of the largest employers, the largest load user in New South Wales, shed? This is a national issue that needs a national response. In the absence of national leadership, we will act.