Hydrogen Power Plant

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for the Environment. What action, if any, has the government taken to protect the environment after its abandoned hydrogen power plant and with your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The Labor Party's election commitment document said:

…firming is usually achieved with traditional coal or natural gas… this process however will produce carbon pollution.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:41): I always enjoy it when my young friend talks about carbon pollution because I know he doesn't believe that carbon is pollution. He doesn't think it is. You notice he doesn't object to me saying that. He likes it. He tells Alex Antic, 'Boss, I'm on board. I don't buy this climate change stuff either.'

This government's record on decreasing carbon emissions and the previous Weatherill government's record on decreasing carbon emissions is second to none. We have done more to decarbonise the electricity sector than any other jurisdiction not just in Australia but the world. Whether it is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders and the member for Hammond are on their final warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Whether it is grid-scale storage, which members opposite ridiculed and laughed at—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond can leave the chamber until the end of question time.

The honourable member for Hammond having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He's the only one we fear, sir. When we were talking about battery storage, they mocked it. When we talk about firming, they mock it. They have no energy plan, no plan to decarbonise. They actively oppose decarbonisation. I have to say that when members opposite yell out, 'You've deferred it,' is the counterfactual here that they would rather us watch Whyalla collapse completely, or are they saying they wanted us to raise another $593 million of debt to fund Whyalla? Which one is it? Because members opposite can't have it both ways. They can't go up to Whyalla and talk to their only friend and say, 'We completely support what the government did,' but on the other hand come in here and say, 'Why did you cancel hydrogen?'

Mr Whetstone: Have you been out to a farm lately? Have you been out to a farmer lately?

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey can leave the chamber until the end of question time.

The honourable member for Chaffey having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I have to say that members opposite know that we are the ones in this house, in this state, who have a decarbonisation strategy. We are the ones who are leading the decarbonisation of our electricity grid. We are world leaders. Members opposite watch and ridicule from the opposition benches. They do it well. They are suited to opposition. They are very good at it. I hope they eventually perfect it.

But I have to say that criticising us for deferring the hydrogen plant to save Whyalla and save steelmaking in this country is an odd tactic for an opposition, especially in a seat like Grey. I bet you that constituents in Grey, who are weighing up who to vote for in the upcoming open election where a longstanding incumbent member is not re-standing, hear members opposite yell out and say we shouldn't have delayed hydrogen to invest in Whyalla.

Members opposite might be thinking to themselves, 'Is this the right strategy, electorally, to be talking about in the Upper Spencer Gulf?' We make no apologies for deferring hydrogen. Ultimately, hydrogen will be needed to decarbonise the steelworks. It's the only way you can decarbonise steelmaking. What we want to do is make sure we still have a steelworks to decarbonise. That's the first step.