National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 9 February 2023.)

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (15:25): I indicate that I will be the lead speaker for the opposition on this bill, another bill arising from the national Energy Ministers' Meeting. The National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill builds on the Retailer Reliability Obligation that was brought to the parliament in 2019 by the former Liberal government, a good demonstration of the former government's commitment to improve the reliability and security of the state's energy system.

Following the 2018 election, there was a lot of focus on improving the reliability of energy in the state's electricity system. This ensured that electricity for families and businesses was affordable and, most importantly, reliable as well. Forewarned is forearmed. The Retailer Reliability Obligation was one such tool to increase reliability in the grids by providing some form of recognition of capacity in the National Electricity Market. It was designed to change the way power generators will invest and places what is a clear value on putting power into the system.

It was designed to ensure that the electricity system operates reliably and meets the demand for electricity at a lower cost. The national energy ministers agreed in September 2021 to include the ministerial lever for the T-3 instrument under the Retailer Reliability Obligation for all regions in the National Electricity Market (NEM). Further to this, the national energy ministers agreed to further progress design work on the mechanisms that specifically value capacity in the NEM.

By expanding the existing ministerial reliability instrument from South Australia to all NEM jurisdictions, it provides the ability for National Electricity Market jurisdictions to manage potential risks to the system reliability. With the NEM becoming more interconnected to assist with an orderly transition, it is certainly to South Australia's benefit that these other jurisdictions address any reliability risks in their state or territory, especially with some upcoming significant retirements of large coal-fired power stations.

Because of other jurisdictions facing the retirements of large coal-fired power stations, they have significant reliability caps forecast in the coming years by AEMO. This will certainly help to that end. We on this side will always champion instruments and measures that improve reliability and smooth and dampen price rises in the energy market, especially in these times of a great cost-of-living crisis and a looming energy crisis. We commend this bill to the house.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:28): I rise to indicate the Greens' support for this bill, which will introduce a ministerial reliability instrument in other states that is already in place here in South Australia. In the transition to renewable energy, the stability of electricity is vital. This bill allows energy ministers to intervene three years before a predicted failure in the energy market.

We have seen successes in South Australia in producing and supplying high levels of renewable energy. In 15 years we have shifted from 1 per cent renewable energy to almost 65 per cent of South Australia's power coming from wind, rooftop solar, large-scale solar and battery storage.

A renewable, reliable grid is vital to our state's energy needs. This bill allows the national energy market to implement reliability instruments, as is already done in South Australia. Reliable energy ensures the demands of consumers can be met consistently. The ministerial reliability instrument is only for stability issues that can be forecast and thus it will not provide outcomes for storm-related blackouts, such as those that were experienced by South Australia last year.

According to the Australian Energy Regulator, there are currently three reliability instruments in place for South Australia for 2024, 2025 and 2026. A reliability instrument was in place for the current period but has been revoked. Many of these reliability instruments are revoked before implementation as the need no longer exists. What this shows us is that this is a safeguard mechanism that is only enacted when necessary. The Greens will be supporting this bill to ensure ministers can step in to provide safeguards for a reliable network in the transition to renewable energy.

But I do want to point out that it will take more than this bill to provide security for South Australians in terms of our state's energy needs. Some months ago, I proposed here in this place that the government hold a commission of inquiry into bringing back ETSA. We have seen, since the privatisation of our electricity network 20-odd years ago, the disaster that has faced South Australian consumers in terms of skyrocketing costs and the unreliability of the network. Indeed, our electricity network cannot even weather a storm.

So we need to bring our electricity network back into public hands, and the South Australian people should own the distribution and production of that network. That is precisely why the Greens have been advocating to bring back ETSA. Unfortunately, that is a position that is opposed by both of the major parties in this place. I am not sure why. They seem to be beholden to corporate interests rather than the interests of the South Australians they represent.

That said, the Greens will continue to push for public ownership of electricity. We believe that public assets belong in public hands. That is the way that we guarantee the stability of our network. But, that said, we will support the legislation that has been proposed by the government.

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:32): I rise to speak in support of the National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill. The National Electricity Market is undergoing a fundamental transition, driven by rapid technological change, as Australia moves towards a lower emissions electricity system. The large influx of intermittent renewables along with the closure of thermal generators means that states and territories need to take extra measures to ensure the reliability and continuity of electricity supply.

One way in which the reliability of our energy supply is being ensured is through the Retailer Reliability Obligation. This initiative of the then COAG Energy Council aims to give confidence that sufficient dispatchable power will be available when required whilst the National Electricity Market undergoes this transition towards a sustainable, lower emissions future.

Under the Retailer Reliability Obligation, if a forecast supply shortfall is identified, then an obligation is placed on electricity retailers to demonstrate their contracting can meet their share of peak demand one year in advance. This policy ensures that energy retailers are accountable for reliability in a way they have not been before. If the reliability obligation is triggered, then retailers must enter into sufficient contracts to meet their share of expected system peak demand. Retailers can choose to contract with any form of generation—for example, solar, hydro, wind, gas, coal or batteries. This provides an incentive for market participants to invest in the right technologies, in the right areas, sustainably and for the future.

The primary mechanism by which the Retailer Reliability Obligation program works is through the Australian Electricity Market Operator, identifying any potential reliability gaps in each National Electricity Market region. The market operator will generally update the forecast annually, or it can provide more frequent updates if required. The purpose of this report is to inform the market of any possible gaps between energy supply and demand and signal the need for investment.

If the market operator identifies that there is likely to be a gap in supply three years and three months from a specific date, they can request that the Australian Energy Regulator make a T-3 reliability instrument, which has the effect of triggering the Retailer Reliability Obligation. Until now, South Australia was the only jurisdiction in which an energy minister had the ability to trigger the Retailer Reliability Obligation independently from the Australian Energy Regulator.

The power of an energy minister to make a T-3 reliability instrument declaration has been shown to be of fundamental importance, allowing South Australia to better manage the risk that a liability gap not forecast by the AEMO could emerge at any time across the 10-year forecast period. It is important to note, however, that this ministerial power is required to be exercised only following extensive consultation with the Australian Electricity Market Operator and the Australian Energy Regulator in relation to the instrument the minister proposes to make.

Furthermore, under the National Electricity (South Australia) (Retailer Reliability Obligation) Amendment Act, the South Australian energy minister is only permitted to make a T-3 reliability instrument if they reasonably consider there was a real risk of significant disruption to the supply of electricity to all or part of South Australia on one or more occasions during the period.

The other jurisdictions within the National Electricity Market have recognised the usefulness of these provisions and are now looking to adopt them. As such, the National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill seeks to expand these provisions that previously were only applied in South Australia to the other NEM jurisdictions.

I note that South Australia is lead legislator in this area. That means that if this bill passes in this house the amendments to the national law will flow on to all other members of the National Electricity Market. Significantly, the expansion of the ministerial lever powers to other jurisdictions proposed by this bill was endorsed by national cabinet in 2021 and followed consultation with the Energy Security Board and a process of public submissions.

It is important to understand that the value of this legislation and the T-3 ministerial lever is not simply hypothetical. In its 2022 Electricity Statement of Opportunities Report, the Australian Electricity Market Operator identified a T-1 forecast reliability gap in South Australia for the 2023-24 period. However, the Australian Electricity Market Operator had not previously made a T-3 reliability instrument for this period; for example, the determination that there could be an energy reliability gap three months and three years from that date.

Without the power that has existed in the South Australian minister to pull the ministerial lever and make a T-3 instrument on 7 January 2021, the obligation on energy retailers to secure supply under the Retailer Reliability Obligation would not have been possible. There is no doubt that energy security and reliability is of extreme importance to this state and the entire population of South Australia.

The reform proposed by this bill, which gives states and territories greater power to ensure their energy supply, is only one component of a broader adequacy reform package being developed by market bodies in consultation with the states and territories. I look forward to seeing the results of this consultation and further legislation aimed at supporting policies that address reliability concerns that have arisen as a result of the risks and uncertainties associated with generation retirement, challenges of mothballing rather than closure, market illiquidity, and hedging exposure of large commercial and industrial participants contracting directly from the wholesale market. I commend the bill.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:38): The government is building upon an important national reform, the Retailer Reliability Obligation, which commenced in July 2019. The Retailer Reliability Obligation aims to give confidence that sufficient dispatchable power will be available when required as the National Electricity Market (NEM) transitions from ageing fossil fuels plants to new clean energy sources. Under the Retailer Reliability Obligation, if a forecast supply shortfall is identified this triggers an obligation on electricity retailers to demonstrate that their contracting can meet their share of peak demand one year in advance.

In 2019, the National Electricity (South Australia) (Retailer Reliability Obligation) Amendment Act 2019 provided for supplementary local provisions related to the triggering of the Retailer Reliability Obligation, which applied only in South Australia. It provided for the South Australian minister to make a liability instrument if they considered there was a real risk of significant disruption to the supply of electricity to all or part of South Australia on one or more occasions during a period.

The other jurisdictions within the National Electricity Market have recognised the usefulness of these provisions and are now looking to adopt them. As such, the National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill 2022 seeks to expand these provisions that previously were only applied in South Australia to the other National Electricity Market jurisdictions.

The bill gives an option to the minister of the relevant participating jurisdiction to make a reliability instrument three years out for a specific period on or after 1 December 2025. The intention of this bill is to better manage the risk that a liability gap not forecast by the Australian Energy Market Operator could emerge at any time across a 10-year forecast period.

A minister can only make such an instrument if it appears to the minister on reasonable grounds that there is a real risk that the supply of electricity will be disrupted to a significant degree on one or more occasions during the period specified in the instrument. A transitional arrangement has been included in the draft bill to manage the risk that the bill is not passed in time to provide three years' notice for the 2025-26 period.

If an energy minister intends to make a reliability instrument, the bill requires that the minister consult with the Australian Energy Market Operator and the Australian Energy Regulator in relation to the instrument the minister proposes to make. The ministerial lever reflected in this amendment bill is only one component of a broader resource adequacy reform package being developed by market bodies and jurisdictions.

The T-3 ministerial lever is a supporting policy for reliability concerns in response to risks and uncertainties associated with generation retirement, challenges of mothballing rather than closure, market illiquidity, and hedging exposure of large commercial and industrial participants contracting directly from the wholesale market.

Most recently, the value of the T-3 ministerial lever has been proven. The Australian Energy Market Operator identified a T-1 forecast reliability gap in South Australia in 2023-24 in its 2022 Electricity Statement of Opportunities report of 31 August 2022. The Australian Energy Market Operator did not previously make a T-3 reliability instrument for this 2023—

Members interjecting:

The ACTING PRESIDENT (The Hon. L.A. Henderson): Honourable members, I would ask you to please keep your volume down. The Hon. Mr Wortley has something very important he would like to say.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Thank you for your strong protection, Madam Acting President. The Australian Energy Market Operator did not previously make a T-3 reliability instrument for the 2023-24 period, so without the South Australian minister first triggering a T-3 instrument on 7 January 2021, AEMO would not have been able to trigger the obligation on retailers.

The key benefits of this include: broadening the existing T-3 ministerial lever from South Australia to all national energy market jurisdictions; strengthening the ability for national energy market jurisdictions to manage potential risks to system reliability; and supporting policy for reliability concerns in response to risks and uncertainties associated with generation retirement, challenges of mothballing rather than closure, market illiquidity, and hedging exposure of large commercial and industrial participants contracting directly from the wholesale market.

This is a very important bill, and I look forward to it being passed in this chamber.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:44): I rise to speak in support of the National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill 2022. This bill is part of a group of reforms, with South Australia acting as the lead legislator for the nation's energy markets. The essential improvement being proposed in this bill is to give the minister in a particular jurisdiction the ability to declare what is called a T-3 instrument. This, in simple terms, is a warning to the electricity market that a risk of a supply for the years ahead has been identified and consequently needs a response.

South Australia already allows for our minister to make such a declaration. In fact, this modification has applied in South Australia since the commencement of the Retailer Reliability Obligation. The bill builds on amendments made in 2019 to the National Electricity (South Australia) Act 1996, when the Retailer Reliability Obligation was created. It will help create greater confidence about there being sufficient supply in the electricity market.

Interestingly, when those amendments were debated in this place during the previous parliament in April 2019, the member for West Torrens, the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis MP, who is now our Minister for Energy and Mining, pointed out that he could not understand why South Australia was the only jurisdiction that gave the relevant minister the power to make a T-3 instrument. I can also remember he said the same thing in one of our caucus meetings as well.

By extending the existing T-3 ministerial lever from South Australia to all jurisdictions we will strengthen the capability for the National Electricity Market jurisdictions. This measure will help to fix the broken parts of our National Electricity Market so we can better manage potential risks and significant disruptions to electricity supply.

The South Australian provisions have proven to be valuable, with reliability instruments being made in early 2021 and early 2022 to reduce the risk of an energy shortfall in South Australia during the 2024 and 2025 summers. Now, other jurisdictions within the National Electricity Market are recognising the benefits of these provisions and are looking to adopt them. A minister will be able to trigger a T-3 situation when a risk of significant disruption to the supply of electricity is determined during a specified period on or after 1 December 2025.

Importantly, a transitional arrangement was included in an earlier draft bill to manage the possible risk of this bill not being passed on time to provide the three years' notice for the 2025-26 period. In supporting this bill, we will be implementing a nationally consistent framework. Strengthening the regulatory strength and flexibility of the National Electricity Market is certainly in the best interests of all our communities.

We have seen the huge disruption that can occur if dispatchable energy is not available and if retirements of base loads are not handled sufficiently. There have, and will continue to be, storms and environmental elements causing disruption to electricity supply. When we lose the luxury of electricity during a blackout we are left in a vulnerable position. We know that all aspects of human daily life, our economy and our environment depend on electricity.

Our National Electricity Market was designed at a time when it was powered with coal and gas as base load generators. These generators could run 24 hours a day and it was taken for granted that dispatchable energy would be available at all times. Today's electricity market has had a massive growth in other sources such as wind and solar, and these are part of the new generation mix of electricity in the National Electricity Market. At the same time, we are experiencing the retirement of base load power from the system.

For this reason, we are fortunate to have a government committed to seeing this state guaranteeing the development of a hydrogen hub while we improve electricity laws in all jurisdictions and work towards national reform. I am proud to be a member of a government that is improving and safeguarding our electricity market. For that reason, I commend this bill to the house.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:51): It is a great time to be alive in South Australia, isn't it? Much like everybody else, I rise to speak in support of the National Electricity (South Australia) (Ministerial Reliability Instrument) Amendment Bill 2022. Right, we all said that, and if you did not catch it the first seven times, the bill is obviously part of a suite of reforms and then some other stuff. If you want to read Hansard you can go back and have a look at what everyone else said—it is exactly the same thing.

The core reform being proposed is this T-3 scenario, this T-3 instrument. I think it is pretty important that everyone who might be interested in energy in South Australia gets across just how important that is because it allows for a warning to the electricity market about a risk of supply shortfall. That is pretty critical. Anyone who has been in South Australia recently would know that is pretty critical.

I will continue now but I am certain that people have a certain number of events in their minds when you talk about risk to supply. In this particular case, South Australia already provides for our minister to make such declarations, so why are we here? Well, to put it simply, as a colleague once put to me: it is hard to fly like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys. What does that mean? This bill merely allows the rest of the nation to catch up to South Australia. That is right: we are in front. What an exciting time to be in South Australia. This bill builds on amendments made in 2019 to the National Electricity (South Australia) Act 1996.

Before my colleagues and, indeed, the members on the opposition benches get too excited, this will not be a celebration of maybe the one thing you were able to achieve in government, but I will acknowledge it was done during the time period of an otherwise catastrophic Liberal government and it did create the Retailer Reliability Obligation.

Interestingly, as has already been put by the Hon. Mr Ngo, when those amendments were debated in the other place during the previous government, the member for West Torrens, who is now our Minister for Energy and Mining, made some pretty prescient comments. At that time, in 2019, the member said he could not understand why South Australia was the only jurisdiction that gave the relevant minister the power to make a T-3 instrument. That is pretty interesting, given what I just said about risk of supply. He summarised then that the South Australian energy minister was probably acting on the excellent advice he received from his agencies, which they both recognised as being exceptional.

He went on to say, and I will quote him specifically, 'I do not know why and I still cannot understand why other member states of the National Electricity Market did not wish to take that power for themselves as well. I think that is a very prudent thing to do.'

The Hon. R.B. Martin: Turkeys.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: The Hon. Mr Martin cuts in saying the other states are turkeys. Well, maybe they are.

The PRESIDENT: Interjections are out of order. You do not need to acknowledge them.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Calling other states turkeys for not being South Australia is actually, I think, just a statement of pride in our state. They are turkeys for not putting in the kind of reforms that the then shadow energy minister was lauding his department for advising the then energy minister for doing.

Rather than repeating a fairly boring technical overview of what we are potentially looking at here, I would like to make some observations about what this bill says about the national energy market. It is pretty interesting when you look back over the history of energy in South Australia. South Australia's electricity system was formerly owned by the South Australian people. I know that the Hon. Mr Simms will be running from somewhere in the building right now. Do not bump into anything on the way here, Mr Simms, I have a way to go; it is okay.

The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no need to reflect on whether a member is here or not.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: The government owned and operated ETSA and the generation arm OPTIMA. We were told that the system should be privatised. We were told that the private market would be more efficient and that the customers would have cheaper power. Yet here we are, some 20 plus years after the day that the Liberal Party privatised the system, now having to debate reforms to fix the inefficiencies of the private market at a time when customers are staring down the barrel of electricity prices potentially rising by 56 per cent in the next two years. In the next 750 days, we could see prices rise by as much as 56 per cent.

As we on this side of the house have always known the privatisation of essential services like electricity is a pathway to disaster. To be clear—before the Hon. Mr Simms, who I know must have just briefly stepped out for a few seconds, gets his hopes up—we are pro-business. We welcome the competition, we welcome the innovation, the investment, the job creation that the private sector brings, but it has to be done in the many sectors where those factors can flourish, not in the areas of essential services, like Service SA, which have elements of operating as a monopoly or where there are risks of market manipulation to the detriment of consumers' interests.

Let us consider briefly the inefficiencies that led to the establishment of the Retailer Reliability Obligation. The obligation was deemed necessary because the private market was not working to ensure sufficient generation was being built. There was a risk of disorderly exit of ageing fossil fuel plants with insufficient replacement of generation being available. This was a big stick—penalties that could be as high as $100 million were put in place to incentivise that investment. Privatisation alone failed to create the incentive to invest nor was the market really, if you like, liquid enough to achieve what the aim was.

For the competition to be successful—I know the Liberal Party are listening because they love competition—new players must be able to come in and disrupt a market with better offers from target buyers.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Do not tip petrol on the fire here.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: It would be coal on the fire I think, Mr President. The market liquidity obligation that works in tandem with the Retailer Reliability Obligation is an acknowledgement that the electricity market was not liquid. This is something that the opposition is indeed agreeing with now, which is nice. It was an acknowledgement that the big, vertically integrated companies, the ones who bought out the previous government-owned utilities, could squeeze out newcomers. It was literally, if you like, a failure of privatisation.

Here we are, more than three years later, after we saved ourselves last time with the honourable member for West Torrens then making the very prescient comment that he thought it would be a prudent thing for the rest of the nation to do what South Australia was doing, and here we are—we are doing it. We are allowing them to catch up with us. So with all the other states asking us to legislate for them, exactly what our minister recognised back then as the best course of action in administering the Retailer Reliability Obligation, it should not come as a surprise to South Australia that our minister at the helm of energy regulation is once again way ahead of the pack.

Think back to the energy plan under the previous Labor government. Remember that thing? That is right, the big battery. The big battery was where the government incentivised the revolutionary concept—the revolutionary concept—of building a grid-scale battery to stabilise supply. Do you remember that? Uninformed critics, and critics who should have known better but did not, made comments then and regretted them later, but they did not understand what they were saying. They misunderstood the purpose of the big battery. They labelled it, I think rather bizarrely, the big banana. I do not really get where they were going with that. Who was that Prime Minister? Anyway, it does not matter. They said it would be useless because it could only supply energy for a very brief period, but time has proved those critics wrong.

The big battery, owned and operated by Neoen using Tesla equipment, has saved South Australians tens of millions of dollars in ancillary support costs. It has been so successful that it was increased in size—increased in size—from 100 megawatts to 150 megawatts. The range of support services it supplies has been broadened. Significantly, big batteries are being or have been installed across Australia and many other countries. South Australia, once again, just like here today, is leading the way.

South Australia moved ahead earlier than other states in identifying opportunities in power. I am trying to think of another source of energy. Hydrogen, that is right. Once again, here we are leading the nation in another energy-producing device. There is hydrogen. We are creating a road map with a vision that has led us to today's Hydrogen Jobs Plan. We are at the cutting edge of exciting technological change. We have led the way with renewables, with more than two-thirds of supply from renewables last financial year. Often, renewables in South Australia are ample to meet 100 per cent of demand. That is in renewables. Renewables meet 100 per cent of demand. Some people said that could not happen. Maybe they are eating a banana now.

Often, renewables will meet those demands. We are understood to be the first jurisdiction in the world—the first in the world—where an electricity system of more than one gigawatt of demand has at times had solar alone providing that level of capacity. Wind alone meets 100 per cent of the mark frequently and wind combined with solar meets the mark for hours most of the time.

It would take a degree of hubris—I do not think I have that—to say that South Australia's achievements in energy leadership have not been without challenges, but being a progressive state we have met those challenges and made reforms to strengthen our system. One need look no further than, for instance, last year when storms whipped through South Australia. The Hon. Ms Girolamo, storms whipped through South Australia causing two different but related major problems.

The Hon. L.A. Henderson: Remember that blackout under the Labor government—the Labor one. It wasn't under Liberal. It was under Labor that we had those big blackouts.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: I will get to it, the Hon. Ms Henderson. I am going to get to it, don't worry.

The PRESIDENT: Interjections are out of order. Do not respond to them.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Thank you for your protection, Mr President. In one incident, the ElectraNet transmission tower south of Tailem Bend was toppled. It caused a line to trip and it effectively islanded, if you like, most of South Australia from the rest of the national energy market. This was a major disruption, fairly obviously, yet the grid handled it and no customers lost power because of the lack of supply—no customers lost power because of the lack of supply. Actually, the reverse was true. Excessive supply became the issue, and it required careful interventions to curtail generation until the transmission line was repaired and ready to export South Australian renewable energy to Victoria. That is us giving back to Victorians again. I look forward to the Gather Round.

The second stress on the system was not related to transmission, it was the widespread damage to the distribution network caused by falling trees and vegetation. This damage was an act of nature, unfortunately the type of extreme event that we can expect to become more common because of climate change. It resulted in more than 500 wires being downed and 163,000 customers losing power. The length of the blackouts was minimised by the South Australian volunteer spirit and the professional response of many of our organisations.

I think the circumstances of those blackouts were very different from the risks in supply that this bill seeks to address; however, I think the experience fresh in our minds is that this is all a matter of reliability. Our homes, our schools, our hospitals and our places of entertainment are all sites in our lives where we need reliable energy supply, and we cannot afford to take it for granted. We need our system to be as resilient as possible. We have led the way. South Australia has led the way in providing that resilience.

I think everyone here should be pleased to see the rest of the nation following our lead and, indeed, the rest of the international community looking at South Australia and how we are leading the world. But this bill only acts as a patch on a broken system. It is a system that is ripe for deeper reforms that restore the centrality of consumers rather than make us all shareholders. While those deeper reforms take shape, I think it is pretty necessary to put patches like this in place, and it is why the Malinauskas government supports this bill. I commend it.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:06): I was not on the list, but I thought I may get up and say something after all that hot air we have heard today and talk about turkeys. I commend the member, Mr Hanson, on his parochialism about South Australia. Reliable and affordable supply is still a challenge and will continue to be as woke-driven generators look at closing down coal power stations in the Eastern States that can power millions of consumers, further endangering the dispatchable power that this country needs.

In Europe, countries like Germany, after closing down nuclear and coal-fired power stations, are now looking at reopening them. Germany is reopening something like 20 coal-fired power stations simply because of the uncertainty of supply. I cannot see that certainty here in Australia. I note that Mr Hanson—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hanson.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: —was barking about how South Australia is in front of the game. Let's not forget what happened on the watch of the previous Labor government. That is when we had the statewide power blackout and the dramas that ensued in the weeks and months after that. Let's also not forget that under Labor we had the highest power bills in the world. They were the highest.

I have to say, they are not really coming down that much at all. We do have a lot more renewable energy today, and that is probably to some of their credit, but again, the bills have not come down as were promised to long-suffering consumers in South Australia; in fact, they are going up by 20 per cent by July this year. Of course, we have heard the Prime Minister and a number of his Labor acolytes parroting that they are going to bring down power prices by $275.

The Hon. H.M. Girolamo: I haven't seen that cut.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I cannot see that happening, either. To quote Mr Hanson, we will see a turkey fly by the time that happens.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hanson.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Any politician on any side who promises they are going to bring down power bills are really kidding themselves and also the public. I will never believe a politician who utters the fact that they are going to bring down power bills. It will not happen. It has not happened. The biggest mistake that this state made was made by the Liberals in privatising ETSA. That was a black day for this state, and we are continuing to pay for that right now.

The Hon. T.A. Franks interjecting:

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: But I must say the Greens want to ban new gas and coal. If that happens, what happens to guaranteed supplies?

The Hon. R.A. Simms: Frank, you were doing so well.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Yes, I know, but I have just said you cannot believe politicians on either side.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Simms, do not bait him, and the Hon. Mr Pangallo, do not respond to interjections.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I am just winding up, Mr President, even though they are trying to wind me up. It will be a disaster for all consumers and industry here if that crazy proposition ever gets up.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Well, I am just going to point to what is happening in Ukraine at the moment. We have a war on at the moment, and what do you think the Russians' first targets were to try to shut that country down and cause chaos and suffering amongst the Ukrainians? They targeted all their energy generators. They targeted their nuclear power station. They targeted all these other energy generators to shut it down so that they had no power.

We do not have that guarantee here. We just do not have that insurance here at the moment. With that, SA-Best will actually support the bill.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (16:11): I would like to thank the Hon. Ms Girolamo, the Hon. Mr Simms, the Hon. Mr Martin, the Hon. Mr Wortley, the Hon. Mr Ngo, the Hon. Mr Hanson and the Hon. Mr Pangallo for their contributions. Clearly, this is something that is close to all of our hearts. Interestingly, it is a somewhat peculiar piece of legislation given it does not actually affect South Australia.

As the Hon. Mr Ngo and the Hon. Mr Hanson pointed out, the current energy minister noted back in 2019 that it was amazing that other jurisdictions were not doing this already. However, we are proud to be the national leaders in the energy space, and part of that leadership is the South Australian parliamentary convention of multiparty support for national reform bills such as the one we have before us today. As a government, we appreciate that support and I commend the bill to the council.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (16:13): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.