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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-14 Daily Xml
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CARBON EMISSIONS

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): My question is again to the Premier, as it seems he does not know how many tonnes—

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader has been warned once before about that.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: How many tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum will be (or are being) pumped into the atmosphere in this state by the brown coal-fired power stations in Upper Spencer Gulf, and what is the government doing about new plans for the future? Do you know that one?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Transport.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Energy) (14:42): So far, the Leader of the Opposition has attacked the Roxby Downs mine expansion and is now attacking the—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: —I've got an answer for you, sunshine—but he has now gone on to attack the electricity generators which, from memory, are named after Sir Thomas Playford. I say this about electricity generation in South Australia: South Australia's electricity generation—listen carefully to this because, you are right, it is a very important issue—is the lowest carbon footprint of all generation in mainland Australia.

We have one brown coal burner which, the last time we checked, will run out of fuel within five to seven years. My understanding is that the member for Stuart, far from criticising it, would like them to find more brown coal. I strongly suspect that the member for Gunn has a very different view from those expressed in these—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: The member for Stuart. It should be called Gunn. He has been here for long enough—they should rename it Gunn, I have to say. However, the member for Stuart may have a very different viewpoint about some of the questions being asked about the uranium mine and about the coal burner, etc.

To come back to the topic, South Australia has the best carbon footprint by a long way in mainland Australia for electricity generation. If he believes that is a good reason to close the last coal burner when it is running low on fuel, then he can take that policy to the election—but it is bizarre. We also have more than half the wind generation installed in Australia. We have more grid-connected solar panels than anywhere else in Australia We do this with virtually no hydro whatever. It is an outstanding achievement by this government. I point out that when we came to government there was not a wind turbine in South Australia.

If the opposition wants to talk about carbon from electricity generation, we will talk about it for hours, because it is an outstanding achievement that is recognised internationally. South Australia has been recognised internationally for its achievements in renewable energy. It has been recognised by the leading figures. Any time this bloke wants to stand up and talk about this government's commitment to lowering carbon emissions, he can do it.

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