Energy Prices

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why there are more than 37,000 electricity customers in South Australia who are struggling with energy debts and why the average debt in South Australia of $876 is the highest in the nation?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:22): The Australian Energy Regulator released the energy retail statistics for quarter 3 of 2016-17. The number of residential customers disconnected for non-payment in South Australia has increased from the previous quarter from 2,412 to 2,879. Now, 102 small businesses were disconnected in the March quarter, compared to 69 for the previous quarter. When compared to the other national energy customer frameworks, South Australia does have a slightly higher rate, but it is worth noting that the AER statistics do not distinguish between people who refuse to pay and people who cannot pay.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: As far as I can tell, the Treasurer has offered the opposition no provocation, yet, so I am not going to brook interjections.

Mr Marshall: He stood up.

The SPEAKER: He stood up, did he? It's provocative for a minister to rise to answer a question?

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. We have taken a number of measures to assist South Australians facing energy-related financial stress, including the REES scheme, which is the Retailer Energy Efficiency Scheme, which provides energy efficiency activities to businesses and households and energy audit services to low-income households. We also have home energy toolkits available from most libraries and the offices of members of parliament, which assist householders to better understand energy use in their homes, or those who want to reduce their usage.

We have the home energy audit worksheet, which can be downloaded from the government's websites. Of course, there is an energy advisory telephone service and online information. We also provide energy concessions for eligible South Australians for both electricity and gas usage. For administrative simplicity, the concession is applied through the electricity account, and on July 2014, the concession increased from $165 per annum to $215 per year.

The South Australian government also provides a medical heating and cooling concession of about $215 per year to assist South Australians on a fixed low income with qualifying for a medical condition that requires the frequent use of heating and cooling, which can of course increase bills. As part of the Mid-Year Budget Review last year, we announced a new policy of automatic concession rate rises to apply from July of this year costing the budget over $14½ million over the next four years.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, sir: I ask that you bring the Treasurer back to the substance of the question, which is why the number of people is so high—37,000. The Treasurer is outlining to the house a number of initiatives the government has put forward and is doing it in a very eloquent way, but the question is actually why the number is so high—37,000 households.

The SPEAKER: I am sure the Treasurer will find his way to the point.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I bring no quarrel to the house, sir.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This one is about your energy plan. Do you want me to read about that? I can, about your $70 in five years' time.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Well, our plan—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Isn't it amazing, the embarrassment when you release your own energy plan and in your own energy plan the do-nothing option gives you a better return than the incentives offered by the opposition, so doing nothing is worth more to them than the Liberal plan? Thank you very much for reminding us, Mr Speaker, that the opposition's do-nothing plan is actually a higher concession for householders than when they intervene in the market.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Ah, the dauphin!

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Ms CHAPMAN: The Treasurer is out of control in debate, rather than answering the question as to why the 37,000 applies.

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer has changed his tone from the previously reasonable tone of giving the house information.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: As part of the Mid-Year Budget Review, we applied a concession increase. We do that to make sure that for people who are on fixed incomes, while their bills rise, their concessions rise in line with inflation. People who access all the affected concessions, which assist in paying energy, water, sewerage and medical heating costs, can expect to get a total extra annual savings of about $54. To further assist these vulnerable customers—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I warn the leader.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —we have also introduced a Cost of Living Concession. That Cost of Living Concession is part of an annual payment where we give $200 to eligible recipients and $100 to tenants, which helps them of course manage their electricity bills, but of course, ultimately—time has expired.