Power Prices

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:55): My question is to the Premier. What actions, if any, is the Premier taking to assist South Australians struggling to pay their power bills? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: The Australian Energy Regulator's 'State of the energy market 2024' report shows that South Australia has the highest average energy debt for residential customers in the country at $1,379, the highest of any state.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:55): Perhaps the member should have looked at the most recent AER report that was released about wholesale prices dropping dramatically in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What is funny about that? If it's not true, get up and move the appropriate motion. I am standing in this house saying it is true. And I have got to say the member for Morphett, who takes glee in power prices going up across the country and globally, is appalling. Look at the smile on his face. He thinks this is hilarious. It is not funny. People paying higher power prices is not funny.

Mr Patterson: No smiles. You're making it up again like usual. Making it up and trying to blame others.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I have to say it is fascinating to hear a person who has no solutions and only complaints, talk about what is going on in the electricity market. The truth is, as the member knows—

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

The SPEAKER: Minister, please resume your seat. The deputy leader.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing Order 98, sir: when the minister goes personal it is no longer relevant to the question.

The SPEAKER: We are getting close to the end of question time. If the minister can just stick with the facts and answer the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It is fair to say that I am pretty pleased that the government is focused on doing all we can to lower power prices. It is fair to say first, by starting out, that this is not a South Australian issue, this is a national issue that is occurring across the country. New South Wales, in the AER's most recent report, has shown a higher unit price for electricity in that state. Wholesale power prices there are higher than they are here, and it is problematic across the entire electricity market.

Prices are coming down in South Australia. We have recorded one of the biggest drops, but there is more to be done and the reason there is more to be done is because power prices in this country are set by the person who dispatches the last electron. The truth is, while gas prices are elevated and coal prices are elevated because of what is happening in Europe and what is happening in Asia, what we are seeing is elevated prices, and were it not for the interventions of the commonwealth government those prices could be even higher.

The member opposite knows this. He knows that electricity prices are coming down and wholesale prices are coming down. He knows that renewables put downward pressure on power prices. He knows that it is gas that is setting the price for electricity in this state and it is gas prices that are going up, and that is the reason why power prices are elevated across the entire country. So rather than complaints, how about there be an alternative policy we can debate. How about less than just over a year away from the next election, in the Parliament of South Australia we have a debate of ideas. We know what we want to do. We want to lower wholesale power prices and that will lead eventually to lower retail prices, because wholesale power prices dropping leads to a reduction in retail prices.

There are a number of factors in South Australia that are hard to overcome. One of them is the number of customers per line of transmission across the state and the distribution lines. We have one of the longest and skinniest grids anywhere in the world with the fewest customers on it. It makes up nearly half of our bill. Members opposite forced South Australians, and the people of New South Wales, to pay an extra $2.6 billion, or more, I think, to put up a brand-new interconnector that is still not operational.

Members opposite, who put all their hope into an extension cord into New South Wales, took their hands off the levers and were not in charge in the energy transition. We are making sure that new renewables are built in this state that will have a lower impact on prices by dropping prices here in this state.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Where's the what?

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia: Where's that pledge card?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The member opposite asked where's our pledge card. The Premier was criticised by members opposite during the election campaign for saying 'Beware of politicians who get up and promise they can lower power prices', because members opposite promised $301 and they didn't do it, they weren't able to achieve it, and such was their humiliation, their energy minister lost his seat.