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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-21 Daily Xml
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Electricity Prices

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:10): My question is to the Premier. What is the Premier's immediate plan to reduce power bills for hardworking South Australian households? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: Following two large increases since the election of the Malinauskas Labor government, the $12 adjustment this week leaves families on the default market offer still paying up to $696 more per year for their electricity than they were in March 2022.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PATTERSON: Yes, I did and it had $12 in there.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned. Member for Florey!

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Treasurer!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:10): It's an interesting question from the shadow minister for energy. He talks about the vast amount of South Australians on the default market offer. Only 10 per cent of South Australian households are on a default market offer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on two warnings.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: In fact, sir, the AER also put out surveys of market retail offers throughout South Australia and, despite what members opposite are saying, despite apologising for saying that he said prices would be going up—remember that—the Australian Energy Regulator said that market offers in South Australia show that our prices here in South Australia are cheaper than those in New South Wales, cheaper than those in Tasmania and cheaper than those in the ACT. Another interesting fast fact for members opposite is that for the entire time that they were in office power prices were more expensive than they were under the previous Weatherill government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey! The member for Morphett!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Remember that $303 promise? Couldn't achieve it—couldn't achieve it. The truth about electricity prices and members opposite is that they are all bluff and bluster—bluff and bluster. They ask what is our energy policy. Our energy policy is detailed and laid out. Our policy is to bring forward our renewable energy target to 2027. Our target is to make sure that we have more renewables in the system. Our target is to be able to have more storage in our system by using hydrogen, by the overabundance of renewable energy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Members opposite, their energy policy? Nothing. Nothing. They have no energy policy. They have announced absolutely nothing—not a thing.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Not the shadow treasurer. He hasn't announced a policy on energy. The shadow energy minister hasn't announced a policy on energy. They have no policies. All they have is complaints. Complaints in the absence of any alternative policy is just hot air—it's just hot air.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey is warned for a second time. Member for Unley! Members to my left and right, I appreciate there's a degree of kinetic energy in the system before an important by-election; however, the standing orders are still in place and if that energy has to be vented by adjustments in the chamber, then, of course, we will make them and we will make them early. The member for Florey is warned. Member for Playford, you too are warned or it may have been the member for Cheltenham. Perhaps you are a civilian casualty.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey, order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The Hydrogen Jobs Plan is at the heart of our energy policy. One of the aspects of the renewable transition—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —is storage. Storage is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Member for Hartley is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The key to the renewable transition is storage. There's that gap between intermittency and, of course, being able to supply power on a 24/7 basis. The truth about large-scale grid storage is that when we pushed to have the first grid-scale storage in the country here in South Australia members opposite mocked it like a tourist attraction. It's now a template across the world and that storage, through battery storage, has done a great deal of the heavy lifting.

The next part of that storage is hydrogen. Producing hydrogen when there is an overabundance of renewable energy, storing it and using it to fill that gap, will lower power prices, as opposed to the policy of the members opposite, which is nothing. Nothing. They had one policy at the last election and that was to privatise our backup generation.

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

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on three warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: That was it. They have no other policies.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Our policies are all about—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is on two warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —making sure that we can fill that gap with renewable energy, stored energy, which removes the need for gas to defer power—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and the less you do that the cheaper power prices are.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley is on two warnings, the member for Morialta on three and the member for Unley on two. The member for Schubert, and then the member for Mawson who has been waiting patiently.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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