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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-13 Daily Xml
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Project Costings

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (14:52): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer inform the house about the importance of robust costings of initiatives, and any alternative views?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:52): It is important to get costs right. Getting costings wrong can lead to disastrous outcomes. Let's take three examples: building 200 megawatts of gas-fired generation for as little as $175 million, setting 50¢ Adelaide Metro fares for only $240 million, and delivering radiotherapy on the Limestone Coast for just $1.5 million per annum and $6 million over forward estimates. All up, that's $421 million over forward estimates. Is that a true cost? Unfortunately for the Liberals, it's not $157 million across the forward estimates; it's more than double their undercooked costs, and I will explain why. My friend the only shadow liberal minister for net zero left in the country, if you're ordering a brand-new—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It's going to be an awkward Christmas party, isn't it? Anyway, in today's market, $175 million for 200 megawatts of gas-fired generation is a severe underestimation. The problem for the shadow minister for net zero is that he has based his costs on sticking his finger in his mouth and putting it up to the air. If he had gone to the 2024-25 GenCost, a publicly available document released a month before unveiling their energy policy, it shows that 200 megawatts of gas-fired generation in today's money is $491 million. It is not just a little bit off, it is a magnitude order off.

If the Leader of the Opposition became Premier and stuck to his word and ordered these generators, he would blow out his budget by 180 per cent already, but there is more: 50¢ fares. Sensationally, the opposition say that they can deliver this for only a quarter of a billion dollars. But, if you make peak services practically free, I have got a surprise for you: those buses will become very, very busy and you will need more buses.

I have asked the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to cost this. The other part, of course, that they haven't costed is their calls for more security. So they make an announcement of 50¢ fares without making any new provisions for any more buses or depots, call on us to have more security, lower fares making them basically free and then expect there won't be any need for more security. I asked the department to do a body of work about what this is likely to cost and, of course, the department say to implement this policy it would cost South Australians $421 million across the forward estimates.

My favourite is radiotherapy on the Limestone Coast. The opposition, who are medical experts, say that they can deliver this for $1.5 million per annum or only $6 million across the forward estimates. They have got this wrong. This is $45 million across the forward estimates—$45 million across the forward estimates. Every single policy that they have announced they have gotten wrong. There is $3.7 billion in commitments already and the campaign hasn't started, and over $2 billion of calls on the government over the last four years. That is nearly $6 billion, and I haven't even started about them wanting to abolish over $8 billion in revenue.

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order. I call on the Treasurer to table the document to which he referred in the course of the answer.

The SPEAKER: I don't think he was referring to a document.

Mr TEAGUE: He claimed to in the course of his answer.

The SPEAKER: Well, I don't know.

Mr TEAGUE: He said he got a body of work and then he referred to it.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: I ask that the deputy leader withdraw that term, 'He's just making it up.'

The SPEAKER: Can you withdraw?

Mr TEAGUE: I said, 'You're just making it up'—question mark. It's a question. The Treasurer in the course of his answer—

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader can leave the chamber until the end of question time. I have been trying to get your attention.

The honourable member for Heysen having withdrawn from the chamber:

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