Electricity Supply

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:21): A supplementary question: given the Premier's answer, what does he or the minister who was actually asked the question have to say about the Minerals Council of Australia saying that there is a lack of reliable and cost effective supply of electricity in South Australia that has cost the mining and minerals processing sector $357 million in lost output?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:21): The orthodox answer to that is that when the huge cyclone knocked out the transmission network—

Ms Sanderson: Huge cyclone? Come on.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The huge cyclone—it was a small cyclone, was it?

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It wasn't Katrina, but 'the cyclone slightly slower than Hurricane Katrina' we shall call it from this point onwards. In fact, so devastating was it that at the Bureau of Meteorology, the forecaster there who had had 40 years' experience said he had not seen a weather system like it, and they get very excited about these things. I was less excited about it, but they were very excited about the super cell cyclone that was causing twin cyclones ripping through—

An honourable member: Seven.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Seven, in fact—ripping through the middle of our state, severing the backbone of our transmission system, setting off a cascading series of stoppages which led to the statewide blackout. That is what caused the losses. That is what fundamentally caused the losses. To suggest that it was anything other than that is simply mouthing the propaganda that emerges from the coal lobby. The truth is that any reliable expert will tell you that coal is not the future. Indeed, don't take my word for it: take the word of the Australian Industry Group because it simply is not going to be part of our future. The Australian Energy Council said:

While lower emissions coal-fired power stations could be considered theoretically, there is no current investment appetite to develop new coal-fired power in Australia.

The Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group, Innes Willox said:

The problem with coal comes down to its affordability, the emissions it puts out, its flexibility, and most importantly its bankability. And you cannot find any serious investor who is looking to invest in coal at the moment given the economics behind it.

The head of a company that owns coal-fired power stations in Queensland said—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: A point of order, Mr Speaker: I ask you to bring the Premier back to the substance of the question which was not about coal: it was about the Minerals Council's claim that the mining industry has lost $357 million.

The SPEAKER: That is a bogus point of order, and you are fortunate not to be departing. If the opposition is unhappy with ministers' answers, you are not to take bogus points of order or make impromptu speeches or interject. You will point out to public opinion and to the media that you regard the minister's answer as evasive or the minister did not answer your question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The head of CS Energy, Martin Moore—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: No.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —a company which owns coal-fired power stations in Queensland, says he:

…certainly has no intention of building any coal-fired power plants—

You would have thought he would know about that—

…And it would surprise me greatly if there was any more coal-fired technology was built in Australia…commercially the numbers don't stack up.

So, coal is the past, renewable energy is the future, and I think the overwhelming majority of public opinion says, 'Whatever the challenges of renewable energy, just get on and fix them because renewable energy is the future, and we want a national electricity market that accommodates us.'