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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-03 Daily Xml
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ELECTRICITY, LOAD SHEDDING

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:57): My question is to the Premier. Before the current heatwave, was he or any minister in his cabinet aware that, under the government's electricity regulatory arrangements, systematic load shedding across Adelaide would occur without notice?

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) (14:57): I certainly was not informed, although I am told the Liberals have been briefing journalists that we were informed of this load shedding several months ago. So, somehow, because this is going to be the policy of the Liberal leader should he ever be elected as Premier, he will hold a crystal ball in his hand and say, 'Oh, yes, in two months' time there will be a bushfire in the Latrobe Valley and the interconnector with Tasmania will go down.' He now wants to criticise the electricity authorities.

I have some more quotes, because the great thing about this Leader of the Opposition is that he leaves a trail behind him. What did he say in parliament on 27 May 1998, when I was fighting the sale of our electricity assets—because in South Australia we used to own, operate and manage our electricity assets and our electricity system? He said—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He does not want to hear his own words. We heard what he said. He wants to follow Western Australia on building a stadium. He said:

Selling or floating ETSA is the right decision for South Australia...I am confident that it will be successful and it is the best decision for the taxpayer...can you [the ALP opposition] just get out of the way and let us get on with selling the assets.

Mr Hamilton-Smith, member for Waite, House of Assembly, Wednesday 27 May 1998. Then he went on to say:

There is a strong argument for selling ETSA and Optima, and it focuses around the monopoly and competition issue. ETSA and Optima have, in effect, enjoyed a monopoly in South Australia for many years. There has been nibbling at the edges in terms of supply, but basically ETSA and Optima can call the shots. All that is changing.

He then went on to say:

The government does not need to own these assets in order to control and secure them for the people of South Australia.

He says:

...ETSA and Optima and the deregulated electricity market will come under increasing pressure...ETSA and Optima will simply become a liability to the taxpayer...a business (ETSA) with falling revenue and rising cost does not work, a point that seems to have consistently been missed by the opposition. How can we afford to upgrade the extensive facilities owned by Optima and ETSA in the years ahead without increasing taxes or cutting services?

And so it goes on. Of course, because we know that he—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Here we go, 27 May; this is why he supported it. He says here—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: He says:

First, I refer to the new environment in which we now live. The ALP seems not to have realised that the world is changing. The eastern bloc communist regimes have collapsed—the wall is down. All over Europe, Asia and the Americas private enterprise is flourishing. The world economy is freeing itself from the shackles of over-regulation, government ownership and socialist enterprise.

There he was, calling for the Wall Street free market that has torn down the world economy. He is prescient. His crystal ball was working that day as well. So, can I say this—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I have written to NEMMCO today and asked it to have an inquiry into the way—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —that it informs the public. It will come back and say, I know, 'Hang on a minute, we were faced with a crisis that was unprecedented.' It is the first time it has happened since 2002, or, I think, the minister said 2000. It is the first time it has happened in eight or nine years. Basically, either we had load shedding or we had a catastrophic breakdown across the country which would see pressure placed on hospitals. Basically, it did rolling load shedding for up to 40 minutes and, in some other cases, 30 minutes. So, I guess—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: We saw the announcements being made as well.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes, but the point is that there is the man who was part of the team that paid—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —$100 million to a group of gringo consultants, with their cash in their hands—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —who were basically paid to sell off electricity assets in this state. No-one believes what you say anymore!

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