Alinta Energy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Premier. Were all ministers aware of the letter, dated 6 May 2015, from Alinta Energy to the South Australian Government Financing Authority?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:12): We don't talk about cabinet deliberations in the parliament. I would imagine that people who want to be part of a cabinet one day would honour that principle. It is fair to say that everything the Premier has said is absolutely correct. Alinta were not offering us a deal that would secure our system. Alinta were not offering us what we really required. The letter itself explains that at any time within the period that they were seeking to be subsidised by the taxpayer they could close.

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is warned and he will now apologise to the house for the vulgar remark he just made, and he won't repeat it.

Mr PENGILLY: I wasn't planning to, sir.

Mr Whetstone: What is he apologising for?

The SPEAKER: He knows what he is apologising for.

Mr PENGILLY: If you feel it necessary to apologise, I will, sir, but it was an innocuous remark.

The SPEAKER: Innocuous but filthy and vulgar and unbecoming to a parliament. The Treasurer.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, because it's uttered in the house. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I love the sound of his frustration in the morning. It's the sound of victory. I have to say that what Alinta were offering the state proposed a great deal of risk for South Australian taxpayers. Let's imagine for a moment that Alinta actually offered us a deal we could accept, that is, that they would guarantee their operations. This letter makes it clear that they haven't even sought board approval yet—that's point 1. Point 2 is that they also had caveats saying that, at any stage in a period, they could pull out. Imagine, the remarks—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Desperation in place of policy. Imagine that we had signed a deal, as the opposition wanted us to sign, when we have the CEO of Alinta saying, 'That's correct; in fact, we're running out of coal.' This is the CEO of Alinta. Imagine that we are asked to sign a deal for our security with a company that says, 'We're running out of coal.' Alinta says that 'the quality of coal we were mining towards the end was very substandard'. This is 2016, not 2018.

Alinta says, 'It was very substandard. In fact, it was a very sophisticated operation where we were required to bring coal from different parts of the mine in order to have that quality of coal that we could actually burn through the process.' That's why there are all these caveats. That's why there are all these buts. That's why we couldn't accept any offer—they didn't offer what we needed because at any stage they could pull out.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for the very last time. The member for Mount Gambier is also warned for the last time, and the member for Mitchell and the deputy leader are warned. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Imagine the counterfactual: the state government signs a deal to subsidise a coal-fired power station that had been privatised and then—without putting any redundancy in place, without planning to build new generation or a new battery, without having an energy security target or having a plan—they pull out abruptly in summer. What do we do then?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is called to order.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, sir: relevance. The question is only asking about whether all cabinet ministers were made aware of the offer. That was the question.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is called to order. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Imagine the questions in this place if we hadn't planned for the eventual exit of Northern, if we weren't putting things in place to make sure we had security in the long term. Fancy putting the state's hope in the coalmines running out of coal.

The SPEAKER: Is the Treasurer finished?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir.