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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-02-26 Daily Xml
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Electricity Interconnector

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:18): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister please update the house on the energy industry's views on the planned interconnection with New South Wales?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:18): Thank you very much—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is called to order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you very much, sir, and thank you to the member for Narungga—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —a very, very strong advocate for his community.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: A very strong advocate for his community—

Ms Hildyard: A very, very strong advocate, yes, he is.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is called to order.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: They don't want to hear about energy, sir. That is the topic. They don't want to—

The SPEAKER: They can't wait.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: They don't want to know anything about that.

The SPEAKER: Let's get on with it.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Industry views about the interconnector? We received two weeks ago a terrific report from ElectraNet, in partnership with TransGrid, that said that the South Australia-New South Wales interconnector would be outstanding for South Australians, with a $66 per year average household saving on their electricity bills. The response was very positive. There was another report, one after the other after the other, supporting this policy, which of course the Marshall then opposition took to the last election. It was overwhelmingly supported by the people of South Australia.

One of the very interesting things about this report—and it is linked closely to industry response—is how much this interconnector will increase the capacity of South Australia to generate electricity from renewable sources. It is very, very important. In fact, in their integrated system plan, AEMO said that South Australia would see up to an 80 per cent renewable energy generation after this interconnector is put together.

It is beyond doubt that this interconnector, when built, will deliver cheaper, more reliable and cleaner energy for South Australia. If you are opposed to the interconnector, you obviously don't want cheaper, cleaner and more reliable electricity. Of course, the Labor Party's energy spokesman was not in that category a year, two years or three years ago. He was not in that category. He supported it back then but, of course, as soon as we announced it in opposition as an election commitment the Labor Party's energy spokesman all of a sudden was vehemently opposed to the interconnector. Why was he so opposed to the interconnector?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: this is debate. My views are not important to the—

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. It may be appropriate to sometimes contrast the actions of a former government with the current government, but I will be listening very carefully to ensure that the minister replies to the substance of the question.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: He jumped in a millisecond too soon. Why was—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —the Labor Party's energy spokesman so opposed to the interconnector? Well, he said it was because it was bad for industry. He said that it was bad for generators. Of course, we are going to have gas generation in South Australia for a long time and it will be very important for us.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The energy spokesman from the Labor Party said that the interconnector would be bad because it was bad for industry.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The minister has no responsibility to the house—

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. As I said, member for West Torrens, it may be appropriate for ministers to also contrast and compare the current government's policies to ones in recent times. Thank you.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, the question was about the energy industry. The member opposite says it would be bad for industry, but let me just tell you that the organisation that represents the industry, the Australian Energy Council, in their own newsletter has said, and I quote:

ElectraNet has worked very hard to address submissions it received in response to the Project Assessment Draft Report.

They also said:

The analysis is significantly more robust.

Also:

In addition, ElectraNet has included an increased number of sensitivities to demonstrate that stakeholders' concerns would not jeopardise the viability of the proposed solution.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order: if this is publicly available—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order, minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Can I have some more time?

The SPEAKER: I may grant you that. The point of order?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Assuming it's orderly for you to give that.

The SPEAKER: The point of order?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: If this is publicly available information, as cited by the minister, released in a newsletter, why is it being reread to the house?

The SPEAKER: That is not a point of order. Ministers are able to refer to certain facts that are in the public domain. However, if they are reading line by line and word for word the whole time, that is different. Many ministers, when I was a backbencher, read and looked at documents that were in the public domain. If these bogus points of order continue, you will be removed. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you, sir. So, again:

Previously we expressed reservations about the transparency of the justification for this interconnector, but the Australian Energy Council is pleased to note that this has much improved in this second stage.

Those opposite are the only ones who don't want cheaper, cleaner and more reliable electricity.

The SPEAKER: The minister has concluded his answer. The member for Kaurna has the call.

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