House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-28 Daily Xml

Contents

MINI WIND TURBINES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (15:06): My question is to the Premier. Did the Premier or any of his ministers seek to attract a mini wind turbine manufacturing business to South Australia by offering preferential treatment to a supplier of such turbines to government?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:07): Someone called out previously about our record on wind power. It is very interesting to hear about that, because there was not one operating wind turbine in South Australia when we were elected in March 2002. There was one up at Coober Pedy which had been there for years but which had not been plugged in. So, now we have billions of dollars worth of development with private sector investment—53 per cent of Australia's—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No; I am getting onto your answer.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will answer it exactly how I like.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will take his seat. There is a point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Mr Speaker, the question is specifically about mini wind turbines.

The SPEAKER: Yes.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: The Premier is trying to answer it—

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order. The Premier must answer the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will. As I said, we have 53 per cent of the nation's wind power with 8 per cent of the nation's population; and on mini wind turbines—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: The Premier is deliberately defying your ruling given not 20 seconds ago.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier had got only a couple of words out. I am not in a position to assess whether or not he is defying my ruling, but he must answer the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: In the mix of what we are doing on sustainable energy, we ordered about five and have operating tiny, mini wind turbines—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley will come to order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —which are operating.

Mr Venning interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert will come to order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Then we ordered some more, and the company cannot supply. I do not see what the problem is. We will get them delivered by someone else.