Energy Price Relief Plan

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister advise the house about energy price relief initiatives?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:57): I thank the member for his question, because it was very exciting to see over the weekend that the leader and the member for Morphett had decided to take a rare foray into policy on energy, which I was very excited about. They were out and about talking about rebates for energy for households and small businesses.

I have to say my excitement quickly turned to disappointment. There we were hoping that the opposition had something to contribute to the public debate—alas, no. There they were, the leader, and the member still basking in the glory of the first goal against Port Adelaide 26 years ago that I talked about—

Mr Tarzia: First three goals.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —first three goals—calling for the Malinauskas government to join the national Energy Price Relief Plan, an initiative which the South Australian government committed to months ago, and which has now been finalised.

Back on 9 December last year, the Prime Minister announced that national cabinet had, and I quote, 'agreed to the Energy Price Relief Plan', which will provide targeted energy bill relief for households and businesses. On 24 February, the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council said that all states were working to finalise the details of the national Energy Price Relief Plan. For the opposition's benefit, I remind the house that South Australia is a member of both national cabinet and the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council.

On 9 March, I told the house that the Malinauskas government was supporting the government in their efforts to keep power prices lower. Then, just last week, the Treasurer said on energy relief that the rebate was, and I quote:

…precisely what we have told the parliament, week in week out, we would be doing in partnership with the Commonwealth Government in this year's coming budget. We said we would be doing far more on cost-of-living, we said that we would be partnering with the Commonwealth on delivering very significant improvements to people's energy bills by providing them with substantial relief—that's exactly what we're doing.

It would be helpful and nice if the opposition paid attention to what was happening before they rushed to make announcements. It's getting a bit embarrassing, hence the calls for, 'It's time for Tarzia.' But they also failed to recognise that at the last election we were the only party that took concession relief to the election.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for West Torrens, there's a—

Mr Cowdrey: What are you talking about? You copied one of ours.

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton, your colleague is raising a point of order, which I will hear.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: two minutes in and still debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: Very well, there's some merit in the point of order that has been raised. I bring the minister back to the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It's pretty clear to me that the opposition know full well that there is relief coming in both the federal and state budgets on energy relief. Why? Because we told them. Then, rather than coming out with an alternative policy—which they are paid for, which they are remunerated in vast amounts of money for—they simply know that we're going to do it, hold a press conference and put out a press release demanding that we do what we already said we were going to do, so when we do it they can somehow try to claim credit for it that they embarrassed us into doing it. It is a pathetic tactic. What the opposition should be doing—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —is actually planning their own policies.

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens, please be seated. There's a point of order from the member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: insults amount to debate.

The SPEAKER: The minister may be close to concluding his answer, but in any case is aware of standing order 98. There's some force in the point of order. I bring the minister to the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir, it is a very important standing order and I do my best to uphold it every time I speak. There are many dangers in oppositions not paying attention or deliberately ignoring what governments say.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I will take the point of order from the member for Morialta, in which case the member from West Torrens will be seated.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98 goes to debate. The rhetorical device that the minister uses couldn't be more in the wheelhouse of standing order 98. He's defying you, sir, and he's against standing orders.

The SPEAKER: I didn't have the opportunity to absorb all the rhetorical devices that the minister was seeking to deploy. In any event, he is a masterful user of rhetorical devices, so I accept the submission that has been put to me that it was a rhetorical device. I will listen carefully. However, time for the answer is about to expire and it may be that the minister is about to conclude his remarks.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Again, I am overwhelmed with compliments today from Liberal and conservative members of parliament: I'm a master of something else, I'm a defender of South Australia. I think it's fair to say the government is committed to making sure that we can relieve a lot of the pressure that households are facing with energy. The Treasurer has already outlined this at length. Perhaps, pretty please: come up with your own policies.