Electricity Interconnector

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Does the minister stand by his press release of 24 January 2020 in which he said in relation to the interconnector that it presents 'a massive risk', and he went on to say that 'South Australians are getting ripped off.' Why are South Australians paying nearly double for this interconnector than people in New South Wales? Those are the quotes, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:13): I also point out that it doesn't say 'opposition', and I still ask the Leader of the Opposition to provide evidence of his statements to the house that I opposed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta! The member for Hammond and the member for Chaffey are warned.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

The SPEAKER: Minister! The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: South Australians are paying for this $2.4 billion interconnector that we were told would cost $1.2 billion. We were told that it would be ready and operational before the last election. Is it operational? No, it's not. Has it blown out in costs? Yes, it has.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What are the benefits? Well, we're told the benefits are a massive investment in renewable energy in South Australia. How many wind farms were built over the last four years? Two. This interconnector is hooking us up to a jurisdiction that has black thermal coal. That was their plan.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned for a second time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The investment test that members opposite supported, the base case for that test, is that South Australia close all its thermal generation in exchange for building this interconnector. Members opposite signed up South Australia to shut down every single gas-fired generator in the state in exchange for being connected to New South Wales. That was the deal members opposite signed up for.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: By doing that, they leave South Australia completely reliant—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —on other states for our thermal capacity. That was their plan. We can only hope that when the interconnector—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —is built that the RIT-T does not come out to be true and some thermal generation remains. Of course, we would have had thermal reserve generation in place had members opposite not privatised our 250 megawatts of backup generation, and that was a folly that South Australians are paying for right now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!