House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-29 Daily Xml

Contents

MINI WIND TURBINES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:36): Again, my question is to the Premier. Has the Premier been advised of concerns raised publicly in the United Kingdom that the Swift mini wind turbines have been recalled in that country due to performance failure and, if so, what action has he taken?

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) (14:36): You will find out by the end of the weekend the success of South Australia with wind turbines. When you were in government, you talked about it. There was not one operating giant one—I am going to answer it the way I want to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: I rise on a point of order. The question was specifically about mini wind turbines, their lack of performance in England and whether the Premier has been informed.

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order. The Premier must not debate.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: With 53 per cent of the nation's wind power, we will be a world leader by 2010.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Mr Speaker, the Premier is deliberately defying your order.

The SPEAKER: No; he was not. I uphold the point of order for debate and his criticisms of the previous government, but I think he has finished his answer. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Apart from this giant expansion of billions of dollars—where we do not pay any money but what we do is secure jobs and have 20 per cent of our power by the end of 2010 coming from wind power—what we did is, we ordered—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —five mini wind turbines, tiny little things.

Mr Williams: The ones you put up don't work.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: We made an order for some more and the company cannot supply them, so we cancelled the order. If that is your story of the day, it shows you that you miss the big picture.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!