Eyre Peninsula Power Supply

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:36): Thank you, sir. My question is to the Minister for Energy. When does the minister expect the government will be installing diesel generators at Streaky Bay, Ceduna and Yadnarie as per the recently released ESCOSA report into the Eyre Peninsula power supply?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:36): We are considering the report. The question goes to a meeting we had at Port Lincoln with local community leaders. I think the member for Flinders came briefly to that meeting, and he had other engagements to go to, which is appropriate. We had a discussion with local communities there about the quality of the power that they were receiving on Eyre Peninsula.

Overwhelmingly, the response came back that the quality of the power being delivered to communities on Eyre Peninsula was inadequate. We are not talking about quality. I am not talking about reliability. I am talking about things like the damage it is doing potentially to compressors in air conditioners, compressors in fridges. So we then commissioned ESCOSA to do an inquiry into the reliability of the grid of Eyre Peninsula.

Overwhelmingly, what we are considering in the report are the requirements that ESCOSA believe perhaps AEMO or South Australian Power Networks or, of course, ElectraNet would have to make investments to stabilise that grid. Traditionally—for most of the state's existence—it has been the government that has been investing in making sure that communities like the ones on Eyre Peninsula receive good and decent reliable power that is affordable.

There was a decision made in this parliament to give that responsibility to the private sector. Now, the private sector is failing in that, and the ESCOSA report shows that it has failed to give South Australians the power that they need and deserve to go about their business. So it is a timely response.

Ms Chapman: That's why you sold the LTO.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The deputy leader interjects that that's why we sold it.

Ms Chapman: The LTO.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We didn't sell ETSA. In fact, I was in this parliament when the privatisation of ETSA was debated. I was here, and it was the Labor Party that opposed that sale, and it was members opposite that put the people of Eyre Peninsula in the hands of the private sector. So what ESCOSA and the government are attempting to do now is, through the regulatory frameworks established by members opposite when they privatised the assets, to try and make sure that regional communities have the power they need. So it is a bit rich when members opposite complain about the private structures they have established to deliver reliable power when it is failing. The chickens are coming home to roost.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And yelling and screaming is not a substitute for policy. Now what they are saying is they want more government intervention. Well, why did they sell them? Why did they sell the assets? Why sell the poles and wires? Why sell the transmission lines? Why sell the generators? Quite frankly, members opposite should be ashamed when they go back to their communities and look them in the eye and say, 'Actually, it was our fault. Actually, it was the Liberal Party's fault. We are the reason this has all occurred.' They are the guilty party.