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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-07-18 Daily Xml
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ELECTRICITY PRICES, COOBER PEDY

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development my questions on Coober Pedy electricity prices.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: I refer to a recent interview with the federal member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey (who does a great job), about electricity prices in Coober Pedy. As many of you may know, last year the government almost doubled the electricity prices in the town. Coober Pedy is now facing another 30 per cent rise on top of their already high figures. The government ran the generators but handed them to the local council in 2002 when they were in need of repair. It is believed that it would cost an estimated $50 million to connect Coober Pedy to the grid, so funding the generators seems to be the only viable option at the moment.

The increase of electricity prices causes businesses to increase their prices, affecting tourism and making it increasingly expensive for the community. Every other state government in Australia supports its regional communities, but it seems South Australia and the Labor government do not. My questions are:

1. Will the government commit to lowering electricity prices in Coober Pedy? If not, why not?

2. What are the latest cost figures for putting Coober Pedy on the grid?

3. Has any cost-benefit analysis been done on this particular subject?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (15:13): This is obviously a question that is mainly the responsibility of the Minister for Infrastructure, and I would be happy to refer the details of those questions to the appropriate minister and bring back a response. I certainly can say that the issue of power to Coober Pedy is one that has occupied considerable thought by this government. There was a decision made in terms of the full cost recovery of power to Coober Pedy and power subsidies were removed, and I am very much aware, having visited Coober Pedy several times, that that has had a significant impost on that community.

I believe a report was done some time ago that looked at providing an interconnection through, I think, Prominent Hill; it is some time since I had a look at this material. Again, it is a while since I have looked at these figures, but I think it was somewhere between $50 million and $80 million, or something like that—a huge amount of money—to provide an interconnection. As I said, I think it was through Prominent Hill.

During one of my visits there, when I went out to Prominent Hill, it was an issue that I actually discussed with them: the prospect of being able to hook up to their mains and what that would mean. They also had given it considerable thought in terms of their capacity to do that and the costs, etc. They were quite clear that at that time they were prohibitive. If I recall, it would have had a significant impact on their capacity, so they would have to make significant structural adjustments for that. The tyranny of distance and isolation meant that laying that infrastructure had significant cost implications as well.

It is not just power. There are also issues to do with water in Coober Pedy, which I have also looked at. I have been out to look at their waterline. You can see the number of repairs that have been done as you travel along the line of various dates. Every 10 metres or so, you can see that there is another repair job and then another repair job, which has been going on for many years. So, it is a patchwork quilt of repairs—very costly and, at times, providing poor quality water. I was very pleased that Coober Pedy was successful in the last RDAF funding round. They were successful in obtaining just under $1 million—it was close to it, I think—for a Water for Growth project to help them rebuild and refit their water system. I am very pleased that at least one of their major challenges has been addressed.

I note that the Minister for Infrastructure made a decision about the power. My understanding is that he has not revisited that decision; however, in terms of the specific questions asked, as I said, I am happy to pass those on to the minister and bring back a response.

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