Power Outages

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:37): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, representing the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, questions regarding the recent blackouts caused by the storm on Wednesday 28 September.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I have been contacted by a constituent who lives in Springton, who advises that since the storm they have experienced intermittent power outages for hours at a time. Each time there is a power outage my constituent immediately contacts the SA Power Networks' outages line and has been surprised on several occasions that there is already a recorded message indicating knowledge of the outage and an approximate time for restoration.

1. Can the minister advise if there were any planned outages between 28 September and 5 October 2016 and, if so, provide details of when and their duration?

2. Can the minister advise if any parts of South Australia, particularly the rural areas, have had their power supply sacrificed to ensure consistent power supply to Adelaide and the metropolitan area?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:38): I thank the honourable member for his questions. I will take those on notice and refer them to the Minister for Energy in another place and bring back a reply. Also, if there is a specific concern from one of the honourable member's constituents I would be happy to talk to the honourable member afterwards to see if we can address that specifically, without needing to bring back an answer that talks about a specific person.