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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-11-02 Daily Xml
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Bills

Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction (Targets) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 28 September 2022.)

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (10:31): I rise to support the bill and to speak on some key points about the bill. This bill amends the South Australian Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act 2007 to reflect its climate change policies and targets. The targets include net zero emissions by 2050, to reduce net emissions by more than 50 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels and to achieve 100 per cent net renewable energy generation by 2030.

If we reflect on the history of electricity production in South Australia, we only really saw movement in the renewables space after the leasing of the government-run ETSA. I am certainly not aware of any investment in renewable energy when that was a government-run instrumentality. Starfish Hill was approved by the previous Olsen government and was the first wind farm in South Australia—private investment.

We know that there have been wind farms and solar farms popping up around South Australia for many years since the opening up of that market to the private sector in South Australia for electricity production. It did not happen under a system that was owned and run by the government, but a system that was opened to the private sector. We saw private sector investment.

It is important to remember that it was a change in philosophy and an updating of the business environment in South Australia that saw this massive investment in renewable energy in South Australia. I have been in this place long enough to remember a fellow by the name of Mike Rann, who used to certainly make a big deal about anything to do with renewable energy and claim ownership of that, not acknowledging, of course, that that process was made available by the Liberal government that preceded him.

I remember a couple of instances where that did not quite work too well for him. We all remember the small wind turbine on the State Administration building. I do not know whether you remember that small wind turbine. It was about 600 or 700 millimetres in diameter and that was featured by former Premier Rann as being the South Australia of the future—the State Administration building.

I remember wondering, 'Surely there's more than one of those. For the Premier to be making such a big deal, surely there's more one of those wind turbines.' I remember doing some FOIs and discovering a whole shed of these wind turbines that were purchased that did not work. They were never installed. I think the member for Hammond remembers that story. That was reported widely in The Advertiser,this shed out in the middle of nowhere where the Rann government had hidden these wind turbines that did not work.

I am led to believe from a tour I did on the rooftop of Parliament House that when solar panels were being installed on Parliament House Mike Rann was on King William Road somewhere near the Rotunda, directing the tradespeople at what angle to have the solar panels set up to get the best view for the public on the footpath. We all know that the best place for solar panels to be positioned is where they get the most sun.

My understanding is that Mike Rann himself was down on the footpath directing, 'Up a bit; no, down a bit. I can see them better now; leave them there.' It does not matter that we were going to lose an hour a day of solar generation, as long as the public could see them. That was all about Labor's attempt to claim the ground on renewables in South Australia, completely ignoring the fact that that whole process was enabled by the changes to the distribution of electricity and the bringing in of private investment of electricity generation and distribution in South Australia.

I commend the Leader of the Opposition for his work as the former Minister for the Environment bringing this bill in when we were in government. Unfortunately, we were not able to progress it enough for it to have effect. Having it back here again is a great opportunity for this parliament to reinforce to the people of South Australia that we are in the business of renewable energy in South Australia, we are in the business of providing clean energy in South Australia and we are in the business of innovation.

We are not afraid of the private sector; we partner with the private sector. Thank God there were partnerships with the business sector and the private sector during the COVID period. Imagine what it would have been like if that was managed under a federal Labor government and a state Labor government. We had a taste of that in 2007 with the financial crisis when there were school halls built, some of which were for schools that were due to be closed. That was entirely government expenditure.

There was no opportunity for the private sector to be involved and to co-invest, so the government money did not go as far as it did with the Coalition and Liberal government scheme here in South Australia. That was a partnership, where public money and private money were invested together to get more value for taxpayers' money in stimulating the economy, keeping people in jobs and keeping people connected with their employers and their employers connected with their employees.

As we opened up and as we managed COVID, people were still in a position to go back to work, whether they worked from home or whether they were in a job that meant they needed to be in their place of work, whether that was in retail, in the medical sector, or in schools. We were able to do that because there was an investment and a partnership between government and the private sector.

That is where we are with renewable energy here in South Australia. We know that when there is private sector involvement we get the outcomes, because the private sector are prepared to take the risk. They evaluate those risks, and it is because they evaluate those risks that they have a high success rate, with those projects becoming profitable and growing, and provide opportunities for people to invest in South Australia.

There are some people out there who worry or complain about international or foreign investment in South Australia, but we did not hear them complain at all about General Motors, an American motor company, opening plants at Woodville and Elizabeth, or about the American company Chrysler opening a motor plant down at Tonsley, and then being taken over by the Japanese-owned company Mitsubishi in 1980 to keep everybody employed.

That is the thing about the South Australian economy: it is an international economy. The entire industrial revolution of the Playford period was built on partnerships with government and private investors, and many of those were international investors or companies that saw South Australia as an opportunity.

South Australia has an opportunity for those who want to participate in renewable, clean energy, and we are partners in doing that. I encourage more companies to come to South Australia to participate in our renewable energy programs.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:41): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 24

Noes 17

Majority 7

AYES

Andrews, S.E. Bettison, Z.L. Bignell, L.W.K.
Boyer, B.I. Brown, M.E. Champion, N.D.
Clancy, N.P. Close, S.E. Cook, N.F.
Fulbrook, J.P. Hildyard, K.A. Hood, L.P.
Hughes, E.J. Hutchesson, C.L. Malinauskas, P.B.
Michaels, A. Mullighan, S.C. Odenwalder, L.K. (teller)
Pearce, R.K. Piccolo, A. Savvas, O.M.
Stinson, J.M. Thompson, E.L. Wortley, D.J.

NOES

Basham, D.K.B. Batty, J.A. Bell, T.S.
Brock, G.G. Cowdrey, M.J. Ellis, F.J.
Gardner, J.A.W. Hurn, A.M. McBride, P.N.
Pederick, A.S. Pisoni, D.G. Pratt, P.K.
Speirs, D.J. (teller) Tarzia, V.A. Teague, J.B.
Telfer, S.J. Whetstone, T.J.

PAIRS

Szakacs, J.K. Patterson, S.J.R. Koutsantonis, A.
Marshall, S.S.

Motion thus carried; debate adjourned.

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