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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-10 Daily Xml
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Electricity Prices

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (14:31): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister please update the house on the government's progress on its commitment to lower energy prices in South Australia?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:31): Thank you to the member for Finniss for this question—a very, very important question. We went to the election with a very clear commitment to make electricity for all South Australians more affordable, more reliable and cleaner. While of course we are incredibly impatient to deliver those positive outcomes for South Australians as quickly as possible, it is certainly heartening for the government and for all South Australians that ESCOSA (Essential Services Commission of South Australia), an independent commentator on these issues, last week put out a report on retail energy price comparisons.

They looked at gas and electricity and they found that electricity prices are coming down. This is comparing the last financial year just finished, which was lower than the financial year before that. We are very optimistic that the current financial year will drop even further. ESCOSA discovered that South Australian households are paying $62 less per year in the last financial year than they were in the previous financial year.

As the Premier shared with this house only a few minutes ago, that is in stark contrast to the former Labor government's record on this matter. In the last two years of the former Labor government in office, electricity prices went up by $477—dreadful.

An honourable member: How much?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: A $477 increase through the last two years of the former Labor government. I am very pleased that ESCOSA has highlighted that now electricity prices are coming down by $62 in the last financial year compared to the one before that, but we have more work to do. We are not resting on our laurels; we have more work to do. We are determined to deliver more affordable, more reliable and cleaner electricity for all South Australians.

We already have over 1,900 households benefiting from cheaper electricity through household battery schemes. ElectraNet will introduce their synchronous condensers very soon. Shortly, we will announce the Grid Scale Storage Fund's successful applications. Our demand management trials will start very shortly. We are doing everything that we possibly can to make electricity cheaper, more reliable and cleaner for South Australians.

We have to get the generation mix right. The previous government had a single-minded approach, just saying, 'More renewables, more renewables, more renewables,' and nothing else. We are very supportive of renewable energy on this side of the house, but it needs to be part of a sustainable, long-term mix that will benefit consumers, not just benefit the former Labor government's philosophical agenda.

We will get the mix right. Gas will be with us for a long time but with much, much more modern generation that can enter and leave the market quickly. We will have interconnection with New South Wales. That alone has been modelled to reduce electricity prices by $66 per year for the average household in South Australia.

We have many planks to our policy, and we are rolling them out as sensibly and effectively as we possibly can so that all South Australians will benefit, from the smallest household all the way through to the largest employer. We take seriously our responsibility to deliver cheaper, more reliable and more affordable energy to all South Australians. That is in stark contrast to the disgraceful record of the former Labor government.

The SPEAKER: I give the leader some latitude because he is the leader. I ask him to settle down a little bit.

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