Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

The Energy Market Operator disputes this version of events that the Labor Party are putting forward. Pelican Point could have come on with the high demand and the high prices. The issue in South Australia was not Pelican Point. The issue in South Australia was the low supply from wind power. This is all about creating a little distraction here, so we do not see what is going on here. To use the words of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Penny Wong, 'your policy is a smokescreen'. This is a smokescreen. The reality is wind power only provided to 2½ per cent of supply in South Australia yesterday. The interconnector, ironically providing brown coal fired power from Victoria into South Australia, was at maximum capacity. The issue here is that wind was so low in South Australia and demand was high because of the temperatures that the system could not cope. If South Australia was like other states, you would not have had this problem and you are only compounding this problem with your 50 per cent renewable energy target, which is putting ideology ahead of jobs.

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