Office of Hydrogen Power

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): My question is to the Premier. Who is the executive from the Office of Hydrogen Power who received a payout of between $831,000 and $851,000?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:17): No public servant received a payout of $850,000. They received their wages for the year served, and then their termination clauses within their contract. So while the opposition, who know this, are out there telling people that some public servant got, without working, $800,000, that is simply not true.

Mr Telfer: It is. That's what was left.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And there it is again. When people earn a wage and are paid for a financial period, that's their wage, and when their contract is terminated at the end of that financial year, the contract that's in place, which is public, is paid out. So the payout was not $800,000. The Leader of the Opposition knows this. The shadow treasurer might or might not know this—who knows? The shadow energy minister knows this. But what they are attempting to try to tell the people of South Australia is that some public servant, when they got sacked, received $800,000. That's not true. That is simply not true. They earned a wage for their labour. They got paid their wages, and their wages are included in that amount.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Again, yelling is not a substitute for substance and policy. Attempting to demonise this one individual, the Hydrogen Jobs Plan and our investment in Whyalla speaks volumes about what their industry policy will be at the next election. For a party that's also promising to buy 200 megawatts worth of generation to criticise us for buying 200 megawatts of generation is rich—it is very rich indeed.

You have to ask yourself, Mr Speaker, why are members opposite, almost in every aspect of their energy policy, mirroring exactly what we are doing? The first part of their policy is keep AGL's Torrens Island open—tick: we have done that through an agreement. Buy 200 megawatts of working generation—tick: we have done that. And members opposite still complain.

No public servant received any such payout. They received their wages and for that period of time, including their payout, it equated to the amount of money that the Leader of the Opposition is talking about, but it was not a payout, and the Leader of the Opposition knows that. The idea that the Leader of the Opposition wants to make this a political point, I think is unbecoming.