National Energy Retail Law (Retailer of Last Resort) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 October 2025.)

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (16:09): I rise to speak on the National Energy Retail Law (Retailer of Last Resort) Amendment Bill 2025 on behalf of the opposition. This bill forms part of the national process to ensure Australian households and small businesses are protected when their energy retailer fails. It strengthens the retailer of last resort scheme which guarantees that customers continue to receive electricity or gas even if their retailer collapses.

While the opposition supports these amendments, it is impossible to ignore the context in which they arrive: a context shaped by skyrocketing power prices, deepening energy hardship and a government that has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on failed energy experiments. The fact that this bill is necessary at all speaks to a deeper problem, and that problem lies squarely with Labor's failed energy policies.

Under the Malinauskas government, South Australians are paying record-high energy bills while grid reliability remains at risk. This is the lived reality of South Australians: skyrocketing energy bills, mounting household debt and businesses buckling under cost pressures, all while this government congratulates itself on its so-called 'hydrogen vision'.

To be clear about that vision, the Hydrogen Jobs Plan was announced as a $593 million project promised to be operational by December 2025, which in fact is next month. This has now ballooned towards a $1 billion blowout and has effectively been shelved. The Office of Hydrogen Power SA has spent $285 million in just three years, including $80 million wasted on a project that no longer exists and a CEO salary of $600,000.

The Auditor-General's Report revealed that $85.7 million was written off the government's books and more than $60 million spent on wages and general expenses for a project that never delivered a single watt of power, yet Labor has the audacity to call this fiscal responsibility. They wasted nearly $500 million on this hydrogen hoax. South Australia once led the nation in energy reform and now we lead in energy hardship.

The reforms before us today are sound. They provide clarity for retailers who step forward when others fail, ensuring they can recover prudently incurred costs—such as energy purchases and administrative expenses—within a clear timeframe. This bill ensures no customer is left without power when a retailer fails, but it cannot protect South Australians from a government that is failing them every single day on energy affordability. For that reason, while the opposition supports the bill we call on the Malinauskas government to stop the waste, end the spin and finally focus on delivering secure, reliable and affordable energy for all South Australian families and businesses.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (16:12): I thank the honourable member for her contribution on this important bill.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Okay, everyone stay calm.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (16:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.