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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-29 Daily Xml
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Hydrogen Power Plant

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is again to the Acting Premier. Is the Acting Premier confident in the viability of the proposed hydrogen power station? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: A recent report from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia has shown that hydrogen is one of the least attractive infrastructure project types in the market and, I quote, that 'investors remain uncertain about its realistic application and delivery in the near-term'.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:32): We are extremely confident in the viability of the hydrogen electrolyser because we are the party that released—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We're the party that began the path towards hydrogen. I note members opposite were celebrating their hydrogen advancements, which were basically the stuff that we had put in place before the 2018 election. Infrastructure Partnerships that the leader quoted are talking in fact about investments that are not subsidised by the commonwealth government to a large extent. Renewable energy, as per the commonwealth government's most recent announcement, now will be subsidised and their colour program of contracts will allow basically developers within the renewable sector to be almost guaranteed by the commonwealth government.

Hydrogen is not being given the same level of subsidy as renewables, so I imagine what Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is actually talking about is that, if you are a private investor and you are looking for a government subsidy, the most profitable way to invest in renewables is to attract a government subsidy. Hydrogen is in its early days, like grid-scale storage was when we built our big battery with Tesla.

The Hornsdale development was ridiculed by members opposite. They called it risky and they were ridiculing how long it would last. Of course, once they were elected they were nearly pulling hamstrings to get up there and get their photograph taken next to it, saying they were next to a South Australian government facility. The truth is that, because of the South Australian government's investment in grid-scale storage, it is now the template not just for every jurisdiction in Australia but for every jurisdiction in the world.

The world is decarbonising. The fight over decarbonisation is over. Only dinosaurs remain. The dinosaurs who remain, who don't believe that climate change is real and do not want to decarbonise, are doing everything they can to demonise any new technology—any new technology.

Hydrogen has the ability for us to invest in green steel. Why did we choose Whyalla? We chose Whyalla for a reason—because of the magnetite resources and because of the existing steelworks that are already there. We want to see not only hydrogen used as a form of storage but we want to see it in industrial applications as well. This is our way of trying to push that envelope, that arc of history, to make sure that we can be at the forefront of this technology. Why? Because we believe that climate change is real.

We know that the rest of the world is decarbonising. We know that the rest of the world needs alternative fuel sources. We can't keep on selling coal: it's over—it's over. We need to decarbonise and embrace the new economy, and this is the new economy. What we can't do is leave behind communities. That's why we work hard in Whyalla, hard in Port Augusta, hard in Port Pirie, hard in the South-East, hard in the Mid North of our state to make sure that those regional communities that are reliant on traditional forms of fuel and energy can find a future.

That's why members opposite, rather than criticising the government's investments in electrolysers, the same way they criticised our investment and facilitation of wind farms, the same way they criticised our rollout of—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens will be seated. There is a point of order from the member for Morialta, which I will hear under 134.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Now the minister is straying past standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: Very well. I will listen carefully. He is in the dusk of the answer. There are 20 seconds remaining.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, we are confident, very confident. I tell you another government that was confident: the former Marshall government was confident. It invested money in Port Bonython.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Chaffey! The Treasurer, order! Member for Morialta, under 134.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98, sir.

The SPEAKER: Indeed, 10 seconds remaining. I uphold the point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you, sir—wise judgement, wise, wise judgement. I was straying from the point of the question, just pointing out the incompetence and hypocrisy of members opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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