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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-06 Daily Xml
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COAL TO FUEL PROPOSAL

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (15:38): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure. Can the minister explain the relationship between Central Petroleum Limited's coal to fuel proposal and the proposed deep sea port facility at Point Lowly?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure) (15:39): I thank the member for his question. It is a very good question and very important in terms of this state and its very bright future. Of course, the minister for mineral resources was on the radio just recently talking about the very important coal to fuel proposal from this company. It is a massive, massive project—I think they have spent something like $100 million on exploration already—with potentially $7.5 billion worth of investment.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Mitch thinks it's highly speculative.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Mitch thinks that, but I will come back to that. I happened to be in the car listening to the Minister for Mineral Resources Development talking about this project, and of course the member for MacKillop rang in. The member for MacKillop, who is desperate to get in quick and undermine and talk down anything good for the state, decided he had better ring in and say something.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: When you are done, thank you. But he did achieve one thing that he has never done before, in my experience: he made me laugh out loud. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, he of the three votes, rang in in an attempt to talk down the state, to argue that, because the progress of the government's proposal for a deep-sea facility at Point Lowly was too slow, this project would be in jeopardy.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Well, I can read what you said if you like. He rang in and said, 'Patrick Conlon,' that's me, incidentally, 'has been talking about a port facility at Point Lowly near Whyalla for about four years.' He did say something that didn't make me laugh. He said:

…the consortium who've got the tick of approval to be the preferred bidder on that project sat and waited for about two years for Patrick Conlon to get back and respond to their proposal…

That, of course, is either deliberate dishonesty or he is so uninformed that he should not be the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, or in any position. I invite him, upon the conclusion of question time, to ring Vince Tremaine, the leader of the proponents, and discuss this with him, get it right, and then do the decent thing and actually clear up the totally misleading statement he made.

His proposal was that, because we had been slow on this project, it was not going to go ahead. That was his proposal, and that is what made me laugh out loud. Can I say that the proposal is for a deep-sea facility for the bulk export of minerals, particularly iron ore, over there. The proponents have been working on this. Apparently, they would have done better because they offered $2 million at the last election. That $2 million would pay for the study. I had discussions with Vince Tremaine today; Vince Tremaine is currently paying for that, but it would have been a great use of taxpayers' money.

We go further. They are proceeding as quickly as is reasonable in the circumstances. But I can say that, regardless of the speed of their proposal, it will have no bearing on this very important project because—can I explain to the member for MacKillop, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition—we have no proposal for a deep-sea facility at Point Lowly to export fuels. Anyone who has ever been there would know immediately why we have no proposal.

Madam Speaker, you would know, as the local member, why we have no proposal for a deep-sea facility for exporting fuels at Point Lowly; the mineral resources minister knows why: because there is already one there! We've already got one! In the immortal words of the French knights in the Holy Grail, 'We already got one.' He is so desperate to talk down the state that he gets on the radio and makes an utter fool of himself.

In fact, we have had a number of proponents of the potential export of liquids talk to us—myself and the Premier—and in this case we have talked to proponents about very large prospects of the export of CNG out of shale gas being proved up in the Cooper Basin. This is the approach of the opposition. This is the person who would be the deputy premier of the state. We know that the Leader of the Opposition has said privately that she has no intention of doing anything in terms of policy; she is going to sit and just wait until she wins the next election. That is what she said.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Now they are getting angry. This fellow is going to go out and say anything—no research, no work, nothing, he is just going to go out and say anything that he thinks will help the cause. I say this to them: please continue this approach, please keep the current Leader of the Opposition and the current deputy. Please keep this approach because what we are doing in this state is setting the agenda. We are building the infrastructure, we are building the state, and you think you are going to win by running out and making up stories. I must point out that it is the same bloke who said that we did not need an interconnector for electricity from New South Wales because we already had one—which of course we do not. He is a very confused man.

I note in the other place that the Hon. Mr Ridgway, when we were talking about the riverfront precinct, got up and said, with shock and horror, that we would consider a proposal for a commercial office building in the riverfront precinct. Now, can I just point out to this one that, when he wanders up North Terrace, that big thing called the riverfront centre is an office building. Okay? We have already got one.

Madam Speaker, please, keep this approach going, because we will continue to set the agenda, we will continue to build infrastructure, we will continue to lead a resources boom. Can I say: what a great result for the Minister for Mineral Resources Development today—an enormous increase in exports to China and India, which, of course, were immediately talked down by the opposition. Well, you keep your approach, we will keep ours, and we will see you on the Ides of March 2014. We will see on the Ides of March and, let me tell you, beware the Ides of March!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for MacKillop! You can continue the discussion outside the chamber. It is question time.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: And the Minister for Transport also!

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition.

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