Question Time

Alinta Energy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier tell the people of South Australia why, on 17 March this year, he claimed that Alinta had not made an offer to keep the Northern power station open given today's revelation definitively proves that Alinta had made an offer to secure South Australia's electricity grid?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:05): Leaving aside the misquoting of me implicit in the question, today I think we saw a wonderful contrast between essentially two energy futures: Pelican Point, which opened today, an efficient gas-fired generator which has a long-term future for generation in South Australia; and the Northern power station which was a depleted, coal-fired power station at the end of its life. We saw the contrast between essentially policy certainty which creates investment decisions in a coherent way, and also policy chaos on the other side of the parliament.

The proposition that seems to be advanced here is that the South Australian taxpayer should have slung tens of millions of dollars to a private company on the basis they might stay open. This is the proposition that those opposite want to advance, and this is from the self-declared free market proponent here, from the Leader of the Opposition. What we know for certain is this, is that if—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: What we know for certain is this: Northern, if it were open today, Pelican Point would not be open, it is as simple as that. So these are the choices: a low emissions energy future which has certainty and security for South Australia—

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order: the Premier is debating a comparison between proposals. The question was very clearly to ask about whether there was a deal or not.

The SPEAKER: He stood by his position.

Ms CHAPMAN: Correct.

The SPEAKER: When you ask a minister if he or she stands by his or her position, you give the minister a fair bit of scope.

Ms CHAPMAN: Alinta had not made the offer.

Mr Marshall: I am happy to re-read the question, sir.

The SPEAKER: You might bring it to me.

Mr Marshall: It wasn't 'standing by'; it was, 'Why did he make that statement to the people of South Australia?'

The SPEAKER: Well, he is telling you why.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: On every occasion when I've been making public remarks about this, unless of course I was interrupted, I have always said that the offer never met our needs and it is no offer at all to say, 'We might stay open.' It is no offer at all to say, 'We might stay open.' Imagine the counterfactual. Imagine if we came in here and said, 'We slung tens of millions—

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order: I ask that you bring the Premier back to the substance of the question, which was clearly about why he told the people of South Australia that there was no offer.

The SPEAKER: That is just an impromptu speech.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Yes, exactly. Imagine the counterfactual, imagine—

The SPEAKER: You have asked your question. You have asked the Premier why he said what he did, and that gives him a great deal of scope and he is using it. If you want to confine the Premier, you calibrate your questions accordingly. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. And, of course, it was no offer at all. It was no offer at all when a company says, 'We can close at any point of time at our choosing.' It is simply no offer at all. It is simply not an offer that met our needs, and today was proof positive. The Leader of the Opposition woke up this morning thinking he was going to have a good day. Pelican Point opened today and put the absolute lie to this proposition that Northern was the future for our state. There is a clear choice: a gas-fired generator at Pelican Point securing our future or a depleted coal-fired power station which was always destined to close.

The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Morialta, Kavel and Finniss, the leader and deputy leader, the members for Davenport, Schubert, Adelaide, Hartley, the Treasurer, the members for Mount Gambier, Stuart, Chaffey, MacKillop and Morphett, and I warn the members for Schubert, Mount Gambier, Morialta, the leader and the Treasurer. Leader.