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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-02-14 Daily Xml
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Power Infrastructure

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:27): I, too, would like to echo the sentiments of the shadow energy minister. His contribution should be heard by every South Australian. South Australian businesses and homes currently face a diabolical situation with this unprecedented electricity crisis.

We have had 15 years of this current government, and it shows the culmination of disaster after disaster and bad decision after bad decision. This transition from fossil fuel energy production to renewable energy has been made without any consideration of what it means to South Australians, what it means to the businesses, to confidence and to investment, and what it means to the future of this state.

Many people right around the country are, once again, using South Australia as the butt of a joke. It is all about: are the lights on? When will the lights go out again? Every time there is a hiccup, we hear the government come out and blame someone else. They blame the federal government or the national market regulator. They blame someone else, such as a private enterprise. They use the 1999 sale of ETSA as the excuse for their mismanagement of power here in South Australia.

The Premier and Treasurer were warned by industry experts two years ago that too many wind farms in South Australia will drive up electricity prices and reduce reliability, but they did nothing. I know that the shadow minister for energy and the Leader of the Opposition have again pleaded with both the Premier and the Treasurer to address their transition process, which was ill-fated right from the word go.

I know that, in our regions, we have seen homes and businesses without power not just for hours but for days. The economic backbone of South Australia is made up of small businesses, medium-size businesses and our regional enterprises, and they are the businesses that are suffering in South Australia.

One of the regions hardest hit by the recent power blackouts, the continual brownouts and the continual unreliability has been the electorate of Chaffey. If we look at one of the businesses in the electorate—the Central Irrigation Trust—the CEO, Gavin McMahon, has been a strong advocate for the power issues here in South Australia, and he also came out very early in the piece to say what the government's strategy of transitioning from fossil to renewables would mean to his business.

The cost of power to that business is currently $5 million, so over the last seven years they have seen an increase of 82 per cent. They are servicing 5,000 customers. Whether they be commercial customers pumping water for irrigation or households, everyone in that business, every customer in that business, is paying the price. Almondco, a national leader in exports, is now looking at setting up a new facility in New South Wales, and they are currently there convening a new almond hulling and shelling plant. That is a massive investment that was going to happen in South Australia, but they have moved it into New South Wales—and that is a direct result of power prices.

Another direct impact is the reliability of power that all these regions were built on. They were built on affordable power and reliable power, which they currently do not have. Almondco is considering using their almond hull and shell facility as a biomass power plant, and they are also looking at solar power. Why are they doing that? With the huge amount of investment that should be there for exports and investing in upgrading their plants. As a horticulture industry, almond is currently one of the biggest boom sectors and great shining lights of this state.

Kingston Estate winery—a private, family-owned winery in the Riverland—is another great success. Their power bill is $1.6 million, and there has been a 50 per cent increase in the last 12 months. They have to compete internationally because they export 95 per cent of their product. Being internationally competitive is not happening in South Australia. So, what is Kingston Estate doing? They are looking at their options interstate because, from the Riverland, they can drive 30 kilometres into Victoria where they are paying half the cost for power—there is a disincentive if ever I have seen one. As the shadow minister for investment, I am always looking for ways we can better promote South Australia for businesses internationally or domestically to either invest or reinvest, and in South Australia that is not happening.

Time expired.

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