Question Time

Carbon Emissions

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:38): Supplementary, sir: the question was not about the renewable energy target. My question again is about the budget on page 178, which is about AEMO's forecast. Why has the government said that it is steering South Australia toward lower emissions when it is actually steering South Australia toward higher emissions?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:38): Not true, sir. Our emissions target is the commonwealth's emissions target. South Australia is leading the nation in emissions reduction. South Australia's renewable energy footprint is much larger than any other jurisdiction in the country. These are forecasts from AEMO about wind and solar. They go up and they go down and, of course, there are security mechanisms that AEMO have put in place meaning that there will be more gas-fired generation on, but I have to say that members opposite are asking questions but aren't being entirely honest about the way that they are asking them.