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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-03-29 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Pelican Point Upgrade

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy a question about South Australia's power fiasco.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: This morning, ENGIE announced it would spend $40 million to upgrade its mothballed generator at Pelican Point—

An honourable member: Hear, hear!

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Wait for the real hear, hear—returning it to the full capacity of 479 megawatts. Furthermore, that ENGIE, through an energy offtake agreement with Origin Energy, will supply gas to Pelican Point, adding a further 240 megawatts of electricity to the South Australian supply. While this agreement will run for the next three years, the big news is that it will help get South Australia and the government through the 2017-18 summer.

Back when I was police minister I received briefings regarding the then Community Action for Pelican Point group, which was a group that was protesting about the building of Pelican Point. In fact, there were serious allegations that the Labor Party was directly behind that group and, unfortunately, police had to take many paddy wagons down there to arrest protestors. In fact, the slogan was, 'We already have Port Power, we don't need Pelican Point power.' In one of the protests, the Hon. Kevin Foley said:

Port Adelaide is at risk. So industrialised we will not be able to go about our everyday lives.

I think a lot of people in Port Adelaide would like some industry and some jobs. My questions to the minister are:

1. Was this announcement sitting ready for when the news finally broke that Labor had turned down an offer by Alinta to keep their Port Augusta station open for three more years for a government contribution of $25 million? Was it sitting there waiting? A yes or no would be good.

2. Is the government hoping that firing up Pelican Point will take the heat off until after the March election next year?

3. Is the government providing funds to ENGIE to assist with the Pelican Point upgrade. If so, how much will the government contribute?

4. Does the minister agree that Labor should have been involved in trying to stop the building of Pelican Point back at the turn of the century?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his, I guess, questions. I am happy to refer his conspiracy theories onto the energy minister and see if he wants to respond to these sorts of things.

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