Energy Security Target

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:19): Supplementary: did the Minister for Regional Development consult the largest employer in his electorate, Nyrstar, before determining that he supported the energy security target?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: These members are called to order: the member for Schubert, the member for Mitchell, the member for Chaffey, the member for Mount Gambier, and the member for Davenport is warned for those ejaculations before the minister had uttered a word.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:20): That was my line. He stole my line about 'premature', sir—point of order.

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Unley for making the obvious interjection.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, we did consult with major employers. In fact, the press release the shadow minister actually talks about is about our consultation with Nyrstar employers because we—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: I believe the minister is debating the substance of the question and not answering directly. My question was whether they consulted before making a decision, not consulted after making it.

The SPEAKER: I warn the member for Stuart for a bogus point of order before the minister had even got into his stride. I dealt with this the other day with the member for Morialta taking a point of order against a minister who was three words into an answer.

Mr Gardner: They weren't very good words.

The SPEAKER: Well, that may be so. I think the words were, 'It galls me.'

Mr Gardner: It's usually a sign of debate to come.

The SPEAKER: I agree with the member for Morialta. I agree with him about that. The Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The energy security target is not slated for implementation until later this year—1 December, I believe.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We are consulting with industry, we are consulting with retailers, and those responses have been made publicly available. Indeed, they are so publicly available there was a story about this in The Advertiser which was reported publicly, and I think five days later the opposition put out a press release saying they had discovered these submissions.

Yes, we went out and spoke to companies about what their views on an energy security target were. Some raised concerns, and I tell you who raised the most concerns: the energy retailers. They don't like an EST very much because our modelling shows it will lower wholesale electricity prices and will have downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. I have to say that when you've got the major retailers in this state arguing against or advocating against an EST, it makes me feel we are on the right track. It makes me feel we are doing the right thing.

Of course, whenever you are bringing a new mechanism into the market, especially a market that was established primarily to be non-competitive to maximise the sale price of the assets that were flogged off during the privatisation of ETSA—and you will find that in the modelling released by Frontier Economics. Frontier Economics say very clearly that any market mechanism, like an EIS or an EST or a clean energy target or a low emissions target, whatever the mechanism is, the more competitive the market is, the greater the impact on lowering prices.

What we found is that our market isn't very competitive, which is why the government is using its procurement to bring a new competitor into the South Australian market to try to undo the damage done by members opposite when they privatised ETSA. They created a monopoly market where retailers are charging us monopoly rents.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order: the minister is debating contrary to standing order 98.

Mr Whetstone: How is reducing power prices going?

The SPEAKER: Yes, the minister is debating the matter, and the member for Chaffey is warned.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Supplementary, sir.

The SPEAKER: He hasn't finished.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The energy security target, through our own modelling done by Frontier Economics, shows that the energy security target will have downward pressure on wholesale prices, and the more competitive our market becomes, the bigger the impact the EST will have. No doubt, there are people who have concerns about the EST and, predominantly, those are the ones who—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order: the minister is not answering the question, 'Did the Minister for Regional Development consult Nyrstar before forming a view? Standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: The way I hear it, the minister has talked quite a bit about whom the government has consulted and has even given the house the bonus of whom the opposition has consulted.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Not only did we consult with Nyrstar, they put a submission in. Nyrstar put a submission in, and the shadow minister knows it because he referenced it in his press release. But he gets up here and asks the question about whether they have been consulted, so how duplicitous is that? Knowing that they have been consulted and that we sought a submission, he then gets up here and says, 'Were they consulted?' Well, what does that say about the formulation of the mind of the shadow minister?