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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-23 Daily Xml
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COOBER PEDY DISTRICT COUNCIL

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Energy. Can the minister explain why he sent a letter today—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: —to the mayor of the District Council of Coober Pedy, stating that the council will be paid 'in excess of $2 million once the agreements are signed', when he told the mayor at a meeting last Thursday that he had already instructed DTEI to release $2 million in reconciliation payments to the council—money that it has been agreed is owed to the council under the Remote Areas Energy Supply Scheme? Is the council now being blackmailed?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (15:06): I thank the member for the question. I think that the use of the term 'blackmail' is highly inflammatory.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Yes.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: Look, I had a detailed briefing on this matter this morning, and the advice that I was given is that the negotiations with the three independent providers of electricity in remote areas welcome the final arrival of a negotiated settlement. There has been a degree of uncertainty in place, I believe, for probably two decades, which has severely impacted particularly on council's ability to run its affairs.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: As the member would be aware, I think that the council is currently operating in deficit at around $2 million. It welcomes the payment, and it welcomes the certainty that the agreement will give it for its forward operations. I have witnesses to that discussion, and I gave a clear undertaking that that money would be paid.

My understanding is that council wants to enter into the agreement and that the discussions are amiable. I do not think that there is any blackmail. I think that we are going to arrive at an outcome that is going to be highly beneficial to council, and it has not—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: —demurred from that particular proposition.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop has a supplementary question.

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