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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-17 Daily Xml
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Privatisation

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): Thanks, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Given the known impact of the privatisation of ETSA on the people of South Australia, why is the Marshall government and why is the Premier privatising, yet again, another electricity asset?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:08): I am happy to answer this hopeless question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Why not provide some information to the house about—

Mr Malinauskas: It's the privatisation of ETSA all over again.

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Can I tell you that there is only one party in this chamber that knows all about privatisation—and they are opposite. Let me tell you about the forests—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —let me tell you about the Lotteries Commission, let me tell you about the dirty deal done on our Lands Title office by the former treasurer, the member for West Torrens—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the Premier is debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: The point of order is for debate. The question had several elements to it; one was about privatisation. I think the Premier is talking about privatisation. I ask the Premier to return to the substance, please.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which was compiled independently—

The Hon. S.K. Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Infrastructure is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —by Mr Mark Livesey QC. He looked at the issue of the deal that was done by the former government for the original lease and then purchase of the diesel generators that the former government deemed necessary to prop up the stability of the grid that they had destroyed by their decision to essentially fast-track the destruction of the coal-fired power station, Northern Power Station, at Port Augusta, knocking hundreds and hundreds of regional jobs out of South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my left will cease interjecting. I am trying to hear the Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: One of the things that I found interesting about that report was the lack of evidence that essentially the government was relying on to enter into a purchase agreement before they were required to. There was no compelling evidence whatsoever. That was a pure political decision made by the Labor Party when they were in government. What a massive burden on the people of South Australia!

We have been elected. There was an election: it was held on 17 March. The people of South Australia decided they wanted to move forward. They wanted a government—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that was going to put the people of South Australia first.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What we have discovered, of course, is that there is an opportunity to recover from the mess that we inherited from the former government when they were in power in regard to those assets. We are not selling those assets. We are going out to the market to see if there's a better and higher use for the assets that the people of South Australia were forced into purchasing by those opposite.

The Hon. R. Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister for Child Protection!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What those opposite would prefer is that the taxpayers of South Australia pay $610 million for stand-by diesel generators—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —so that once every now and again there may be an opportunity for them to actually be switched on. We would like to see that generation capacity put to best use for the people of South Australia and that's why we are going out to the market. We will see how the market—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —responds. We will make sure that if we require and we need that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —stand-by generation capacity, we will incorporate that into what we put forward with the people who are successful. We are going out to the market, we will see what it comes back with, but I make this assurance to you, sir, and to the people of South Australia: while we are sitting here on the Treasury bench we will be acting on behalf of all South Australians.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens was constantly interjecting, something about profit. He is called to order.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned for a second and final time. I call to order the Minister for Child Protection, the Minister for Education and the member for Badcoe. The member for Narungga has the call.

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