Question Time

Power Prices

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier expect the price of pies and pasties to increase?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:18): The biggest contributor to increasing costs across the country is inflation and—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will come to order. We will come to order. Can we just have one question at a time and one answer at a time?

The Hon. P.B. Malinauskas: You are all over economic policy. They should make you shadow treasurer.

The SPEAKER: The Premier!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Power prices in this state and across the country are being influenced by external forces that are beyond the control of the country. What we are attempting to do is put in cheaper power, which is renewable energy, to make sure we can put downward pressure on those prices. What is pushing prices up across the country is the cost of firming, and firming is being done by gas across the entire eastern seaboard and the National Electricity Market and those gas prices are elevated, for a couple of reasons: one, international price shocks like the war in Ukraine, and two, policies that have been disadvantageous to the exploration and extraction of gas.

Now, who was guilty of that in this room? Well, members opposite, who banned fracture stimulation in our second-largest basin in the state, and now they are complaining about the cost of gas as an impact on power prices. I have to say it is very disingenuous of members opposite to be complaining about the impact of gas prices on power prices when they are the ones who are anti gas. A party of anti gas, members opposite. They are the ones who tried to ban it. They are the ones who complain constantly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —but come up with no alternative policy. They had one policy, an interconnection into New South Wales—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and we are still waiting for it.