Energy Prices

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:31): My question is for the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister please update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's success in delivering affordable, reliable power for South Australians since the last election?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:31): Thank you to the member for Heysen for this very important question and, yes, I can. Under the Marshall government, we are keeping South Australia safe and strong by fixing up Labor's energy mess. South Australians suffered crippling energy bills under the previous Labor government. In the last two years of the previous government, families saw the average annual cost of electricity spike by $477 under the leadership of the member for West Torrens.

Households and businesses were also impacted by outages before we came to government. There were approximately seven million cumulative hours of customer outage in South Australia, massively higher than any other state at the time. Business confidence was low due to these outages and increases in cost, and it was featuring negatively in risk assessments of investing in South Australia.

We made a commitment in the lead-up to the 2018 state election that a Marshall Liberal government would deliver a $302 bill saving for South Australian households per year. We have also taken dozens of actions to improve management of the grid and invested in the grid. In partnership with industry and with consumers, the Marshall government has reversed these price rises and this legacy of insecure power.

We've done that despite the negativity of the opposition which has consistently criticised key measures to achieve this turnaround. Since the election, SA is the only state which has not had forced load shedding or loss of supply due to lack of power or insecurity in the grid—the only state to have been able to do that—and we have moved from last place to first place in electricity security.

The independent Essential Services Commission of South Australia releases its Energy Retail Price Offers Comparison Report every year showing that since June 2018 the average household electricity bill has fallen by $303 per year since we came to government—and things will only continue to improve. Almost 28,000 household batteries are installed or pending installation, a world-leading progress, including South Australia having the largest concentration of home batteries nationwide helping support the grid.

We have expanded the number of grid-scale batteries, from one up to four, and we will soon break ground with AGL on the next, which will be the largest grid-scale battery and it will be at Torrens Island. We have bolstered protection schemes and brought the world's smartest and most effective standards to support the grid. We are helping concession holders cut their energy bills even further by giving them access to rooftop solar through our Switch for Solar program, a program which the member for West Torrens called 'cruel'.

With ElectraNet and TransGrid, we are delivering Project EnergyConnect, a project so important the Labor Party committed to it back in 2002 and then promptly started opposing it when it became Liberal Party policy, which the member for Lee called 'a terrible idea'. When it comes to comparing our record on delivering affordable, reliable power to that of those opposite, it is clear who South Australians can trust to cut their electricity bills and keep the lights on.

One of the very poignant things about this work is that we developed these policies in opposition, we announced them and those opposite bagged them mercilessly. We came to government and we are delivering exactly the policies we said we would in partnership with industry and consumers—and they are working. Those opposite hate it, but they are working—more security of the grid, a more reliable grid, cheaper electricity and fewer emissions.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Lee, I warn the member for Playford.