Hydrogen Jobs Plan

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): My question is to the Premier. How many contracts associated with the Hydrogen Jobs Plan are still to be terminated, and what is the taxpayer exposure of those terminations?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:17): As far as I know there are no contract terminations to come. I'm not sure the Leader of the Opposition has made his question clear enough. I will try to explain more, if I can. What the Auditor-General has made clear—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: A lot of contracts have been let.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sorry?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley and the member for Florey, you are both on your final warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: So I'm not sure that the Leader of the Opposition is on firm ground here. The Hydrogen Jobs Plan, which was deferred as a result of us transferring that money from the Hydrogen Jobs Plan to Whyalla—that process is well underway. We will recover a very overwhelming amount of the funds that members opposite are claiming is wasted—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yelling out 'When?' doesn't make it happen faster. It might make you feel as if it's a substitute for policy debate, but I will explain it again to members opposite. We procured 200 megawatts worth of generation. That generation costs money. We have a contract with General Electric to purchase those generators. We will recover the cost of those generators through a sale process. Members opposite are refusing to accept that those generators have any value, yet they've announced an energy policy which is about procuring 200 megawatts worth of generation.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Interjecting and yelling is not a substitute for facts. Yelling across the chamber again just shows that they do not want to hear the answers: they just want to make accusations. When you try to give them the answers to what they are asking, all they do is yell incoherently amongst themselves across the chamber—

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and then move a point of order when they do not like how it is turning out.

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader.

Mr TEAGUE: Standing order 98(a): the minister is not entitled to filibuster the answer. The minister needs to address the substance of the question. He is not remotely close to doing so.

The SPEAKER: If we are going to talk about standing orders, how about the opposition stops with all the interjections? It has been nonstop interjections since the very start. The Treasurer, continue.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am not aware of any other contracts that will be 'broken'. I will endeavour to go away and have a look, but my understanding is that all of our contracts have been wound up. The only remaining one, of course, is with the generator, but that contract is being fulfilled. So it is not a termination of the contract, as it were, because we are purchasing the generators.

That is identical to the policy members opposite have announced, yet when we do it, it is a waste of money; when they do it, it is prudent planning. It is interesting analysis from members opposite. Ultimately, those generators will be dispatched into the South Australian system. I am not aware of any other contracts that may be terminated, but if there are, I will get back to the house with a detailed answer.