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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-16 Daily Xml
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NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS

Mr KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:51): I am always stunned when the member for Flinders speaks. She has just outlined the Liberal Party's policy for the next state election: the price of water will go up, SA Water will be privatised and it will charge extra for delivery. It is amazing that they let her speak in this place at all: she just lets it out of the bag.

Today, I wish to talk about the coming federal election and its implications on our state. I am concerned about Prime Minister Howard serving 13 to 14 years as Prime Minister of this country because of what he will do if he receives another mandate from the Australian people. Most importantly, I am concerned about his policy on nuclear reactors and that he has committed the coalition and the Liberal Party to build 25 nuclear reactors in Australia by 2050. Mr Howard has said that he will not rule out power stations anywhere in Australia. He has also said that he will let the location of those nuclear power stations be determined by—guess what—commercial interests. That means these things: close to the grid, close to a ready workforce and close to emergency services—not what is in the best interests of South Australians. What concerns me even more about Mr Howard's plans for a nuclear power station is the reaction of our local Liberal MPs here in South Australia, who are meant to be standing up for South Australia instead of some New South Wales politician.

Laura Anderson, a journalist with News Ltd and The Advertiser asked Liberal MPs a series of questions about whether they would support nuclear reactors in South Australia. The people who said that they would were Senator Cory Bernardi, Senator Hedley Grant Chapman, Senator Alan Ferguson and Patrick Secker. Those who refused to rule it out were—guess who—Andrew Southcott and Christopher Pyne. For the first time in 50 years, the people of Boothby have the opportunity to change the government. It has been a safe Liberal seat for 50 years. This time that seat will be pivotal in the choice of whether Australia is governed by a new leader, Kevin Rudd, or the same old tired leadership of John Howard. Dr Southcott has not ruled out a nuclear power station being put in Boothby. Why is that? Because there is one location that is close to the grid, close to a ready source of water and close to a ready source of emergency services, and where is that?—Port Stanvac.

Members interjecting:

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: The member for Schubert will be retiring soon, to be replaced by David Fawcett when he loses in Wakefield, given what his leader said about him. I challenge Senator Bernardi to come out tomorrow and rule out a nuclear power station being put in Port Stanvac. I challenge Dr Southcott to come out and say that he will stand up for the people of Boothby and say that there will be no nuclear power station in Port Stanvac. I noticed that one of the sites mentioned by the Prime Minister as an appropriate place for a power station was in the Adelaide Hills. I would have thought that the member for Heysen would be more concerned about a nuclear reactor going up in her seat than attacking me for making a speech defending South Australia. It always amazes me how the member for Heysen fits into the Liberal party, given that no-one agrees with her on any policy matter she brings up. She has always been torn down in her shadow cabinet or caucus.

Let us hear from Andrew Southcott just once. We all know he is lazy; we all know that he does nothing; we all know that he spent $60,000 in New York a few years ago on a taxpayer funded trip; we all know how he does not get around the area of Boothby at all; and we all know that his own local Liberal state MPs think he is useless. We all know that his local FEC thinks he is lazy; we all know that his branch thinks he is lazy. How about just for once he comes out and stands up for the people of Boothby and says, 'No nuclear power stations in Boothby'. But he will not. He was asked by a journalist to rule it out, and he would not. Why is that? Why will an incumbent Liberal MP in a 'safe seat' not rule out a nuclear power station? Do you know why? Because he believes in it passionately—it is his ideology. He believes in nuclear power. He does not believe that it is dangerous. It is his vision for Australia. Mr Southcott must rule that out immediately. I commend the good work that Laura Anderson has done in making sure that the people of South Australia are well informed of Mr Southcott's plans for Boothby.

Time expired.

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