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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-30 Daily Xml
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MINI WIND TURBINES

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:58): What has been the Premier's personal involvement in the mini wind turbines project from its inception to its failure?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I have a point of order, sir. That was not a question. The honourable member engaged in debate. He drew a conclusion that he was not free to draw.

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order. The member for MacKillop will take a seat for a moment. It is always difficult for the chair. What is debate and what is not debate to some extent is the question: how long is a piece of string? In essence, something is debate when it is some sort of assertion of something which is contentious. Generally speaking, when one says in the course of a question that something has been a failure it is debate.

I point out that often I hear ministers in the course of their answers referring to things as failures, so it applies to both sides. Debate should not be part of a question, nor should it be part of an answer. As I have said in the past, once a question which contains debate is asked it cannot be unasked. My practice has been, and will continue to be, when I think there is an element of debate in the asking of the question, to give the minister latitude in the course of their answer that they otherwise would not get. For the sake of assisting the chair in maintaining order, I urge members to refrain from debate. Perhaps the member for MacKillop might rephrase the question.

Mr WILLIAMS: Thank you, sir. What is his personal involvement in the mini wind turbines project from its inception to its conclusion? The opposition understands that the decision was made by the Premier that the contract for supply of 40 mini wind turbines, at a budgeted cost of $662,000, would not go to tender. The company which provided the Swift mini wind turbines (known as Mini Wind Turbines Australia Pty Ltd) has closed its doors, with investors writing off their losses. Parliament has heard that the mini wind turbines promoted by the Premier do not work and have never worked and that the project resulted in considerable loss of taxpayer funds.

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) (15:01): I advise the house that that is simply not true, and I can understand—

Mr Williams: Which part?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has asked his question. He needs to give the Premier the courtesy of answering it uninterrupted.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I understand and my advice is that the honourable member's assertion is simply not true. I point out that we are talking about an amount of money that I am also advised is considerably less than your booze bill for the opening of the Wine Centre, but, anyway. The testing of the mini wind turbine—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Let us put this again into perspective. The testing of the mini wind turbine forms a small part of South Australia's reputation as a pioneer in renewable energy as a response to climate change. As you know—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He says that it is all spin—$2 billion, I am advised, is the amount of investment in wind turbines in this state. These giant wind turbines which we have provide 53 per cent of the nation's wind power and growing fast—and more announcements are coming very soon. I think it costs the state government hardly anything, but we actually managed to secure billions of dollars worth of investment—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

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

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —to put is us in a world leadership position. However, the testing of the mini wind turbines forms a tiny part of our reputation as a pioneer for renewable energy as a response to climate change.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The decision to test the micro wind turbines from renewable devices was based on advice received from independent consultants.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned a second time.

Mr Kenyon: He's been doing it all day, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Newland is warned.

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Kavel is warned.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The consultants provide 'services in the design, management and delivery of energy efficient projects, independent sustainability advice for the design of green commercial and residential buildings and the supply of specialist energy efficiency products'. The advice received indicated that the turbines were well suited for testing. In part, the report states—and I quote from the independent—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: In part, the report states:

It is our view that the Renewable Devices turbine is a robust and well engineered product...is likely to achieve, or get close to, the expected installed price of around $3,600 within two to three years.

The report went on to state:

The turbine performance is comparable or marginally better than equivalent turbines, particularly at higher wind speeds.

Further, it says:

We consider the risks involved in installing these units are relatively low.

So, five turbines were installed in five locations across metropolitan Adelaide at a cost of around $90,000. You will remember that we also installed solar panels on the advice of Tim Flannery—$250,000 on the roof of the museum. We did the same in the Art Gallery, the State Library, and Parliament House because there was not enough hot air here. There is about $1 million down at the airport, and there is about $8 million being committed to the new royal agricultural show Goyder Pavilion. So this is $90,000 for five turbines. The idea was to encourage the take-up of solar panels—8 per cent of the population, 40 per cent of the nation's solar power, and 53 per cent of the nation's wind power. The five turbines were installed in five locations across Adelaide at a cost of around $90,000.

I am advised that this is an emerging technology which is in the innovation development stage, and which has great potential for commercialisation. The five turbines originally installed were superseded by a new model, which were provided and installed at no cost to the government. I am told that the member opposite said—

Mr Pisoni: There was a recall.

The SPEAKER: Order! I have already warned the member for Unley twice.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —that these wind turbines were not producing any electricity. A big lie that was, which was said yesterday. I am advised that in the last budget the Department of the Premier and Cabinet proposed the purchase and installation of a further 20 turbines. That went through the budget process, and a further 20 were ordered by other departments.

Local firm AI Automotive established a joint venture with IAG to assemble and distribute turbines for Australia. This venture was independent of government and did not receive any government funds.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That is what I am advised. I am advised that the state government's order for the 20 turbines did contribute to Renewable Devices' decision to establish the venture in South Australia. I am advised that no undertakings were made by the state government to these companies. As it turns out, Renewable Devices could not supply the turbines from the government order, so the government cancelled it. We ordered five—they are producing electricity—and we ordered some more, and they could not supply them, so we cancelled the order.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes; they are. That's what I'm advised.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Want to stake your job on it, Marty?

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Just because you hear Mitch out there saying things, it does not mean to say it is true. The government cancelled the contract. What is the big deal? There has been no—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No; we cancelled the contract because they could not supply the order. Presumably, if you order something for your house and then the supplier says they cannot supply it, you cancel the contract. That is exactly what happened. There has been no transaction of funds—again showing the lie of what the Liberals have been peddling—to the AI/AIG joint venture or to Renewable Devices for this order. The money was not paid, again demonstrating the lies peddled by the Liberals. The government remains open to consider alternative proposals—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier needs to withdraw the word 'lies'. Saying that someone is peddling lies is, in effect, calling them liars. It is unparliamentary.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Sir, I was referring not to anything said in this house; I was referring to things said outside of the house.

The SPEAKER: It does not matter whether it is said in the house or not.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: All right, I withdraw it, but they were not telling the truth. There has been no transaction of funds to the AI/IAG joint venture or to Renewable Devices for this order. Here is breaking news! The government remains open to consider alternative proposals involving renewable energy generation through mini wind turbines. We have been very successful in all of these other areas of renewable energy, valuing billions of dollars, and if we can get a mini wind turbine industry going in this state, that would be terrific.

Governments can have a role in supporting innovation to create industries which have the potential to benefit the economy as well as the environment. I would have thought that that is what you want us to do. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will lead to increased energy costs and act to stimulate this activity. The South Australian Strategic Plan has a target, which states:

The proportion of South Australian businesses innovating to exceed 50 per cent in 2010 and 60 per cent in 2014.

The community expects leadership in this area, and South Australia continues to provide it. Yes, we did purchase five mini wind turbines. Yes, they do produce electricity. Yes, we did, going through the proper processes, order another 20. Yes, the company could not supply them. Yes, we cancelled the order, and no, we didn't pay them. That is my advice.

So, the great thing is that we have 8 per cent of the population of Australia, 53 per cent of the nation's wind power—more wind power than all the other states added together—and we have 80 per cent of the nation's geothermal investment. By the end of 2010, the Prime Minister, after signing the Kyoto Protocol, said that he wanted all Australian states to reach 20 per cent of our power coming from renewable energy by 2020. I have told the Prime Minister that we will reach his target 10 years ahead of time.

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