Snapper Point Power Station

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (15:53): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister update the house on the status of the government-owned electricity generators?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:53): I thank the member for the question and for their abiding interest in all things energy. Members will recall that the then Weatherill government, in November 2017, decided to purchase two sets of generators—let's call them Koutsantonis unit A and B—to provide a safeguard of reliable electricity supply to households and businesses.

The aeroderivative turbine generators comprised of one set of 123 megawatts and one set of 154 megawatts. Their operation was entirely in the control of the government, and they were designed to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to meet the demands of the electricity system.

Unfortunately, with the Liberal government's election and their sitting on the Treasury benches, a rash and foolish decision was made to pawn off these generators to the private sector. Despite repeated promises that the Liberal Party had no intention to privatise assets, the former government told this house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey! Minister—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I will take that advice. The member for Chaffey and the member for Florey will depart under 137A for the remainder of question time.

The honourable members for Chaffey and Florey having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Despite repeated promises that the former Marshall government had no intention to privatise assets, the former Marshall government told this house, 'We are going out to market,' and in August 2019 executed two lease contracts on generators, privatising their operation and ending the government's exclusive control of these private assets.

They told South Australians that under the lease they had 'enabled the generators to operate 365 days a year'. If only that were true. I regret to inform the house that the leases have not resulted in the generators being in operation by these private companies at all times.

One set of generators, which were installed at the former Holden manufacturing plant, had been relocated to the tip of the Lefevre Peninsula at a site called Snapper Point. The site was chosen by the private operators and agreed to by the former Marshall government during the process of leasing the generators.

Now known as the Snapper Point power station, the generators are located across the water from the suburb of St Kilda. Unsurprisingly, the aeroderivative turbines, which sound like a jet engine, can be heard from St Kilda. Because of the noise, the independent Environment Protection Authority has ordered that the power station operate under a noise management plan. The EPA's plan stipulates that unless there is an emergency, the power station cannot operate between the hours of 10pm and 6am. Geniuses! That's right. Every single night the power station is not available for use by its private operators.

Not only that, every morning between the hours of 6am and 7am, the power station can only operate if the wind is blowing in a specific direction. Available all the time? It was a hoax. I don't blame the private operators who are now trying to mitigate the problem who are working with the St Kilda community. I sympathise with that community. At a community meeting on 15 December, residents wrote to me describing some of the effects on their homes and lives. 'We really have been left scared for the future,' one resident said.

This is the legacy of the one-term Marshall government: residents who are scared and a broader population who were mistakenly or intentionally told that privatising the operation of a government asset would be a good thing. It was a hoax and incompetent behaviour of a former incompetent government that didn't deserve one minute more than the four years they had.

Members interjecting:

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