Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take pleasure in supporting the member for Bass's motion. If I talk about Queensland, Queensland still has eight coal-fired power stations operating in the state. Callide B has a 700-megawatt capacity; Callide C is 810 megawatts; and Gladstone, the only privately owned power station in Queensland, is the biggest, with 1680 megawatts. It's owned by Rio Tinto 42 per cent, an American company 30 per cent and a consortium of other owners. This power station was sold by the Labor Queensland government to private enterprise some 20 years ago. This power station has probably at least another—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12 : 03 to 12 : 19

I was listing the number of coal-fired power stations in Queensland and I got as far as Gladstone, which is the only privately owned power station in Queensland. It is partly owned, 42 per cent, by Rio Tinto, and 30 per cent by NRG, an American company. The rest is owned by a consortium of owners. This power station was built in the late 1970s and unless upgrades are put in by Rio and its partners its life is due to expire in about 2028. But Rio assures me that this power station will keep going well into the 2048 period. Kogan Creek is the latest power station to be built in Queensland. It's the closest we have to an HELE plant. It's a 750-watt power station. Millmerran is another one. Stanwell, just outside of Rockhampton, is 1,445 megawatts, Tarong is 1,400 and Tarong North is 443.

Because of these coal-fired power stations, we are sending power into New South Wales. If you look at the chart, today 740 megs are going across the border. What happened three weeks ago? New South Wales threatened to run out of power. The Tomago Aluminium plant had to shut down three times. Now, I'm not knocking—

An honourable member interjecting—

Yes, and they had to cut back their cells. The point is I'm not knocking renewables—I think there's a place for renewables—but that does not displace coal-fired dispatchable energy. It cannot take the place of coal-fired power stations. Gas is an alternative, but coal is still the king when it comes to coal-fired power stations. That's why we're seeing that 742 megawatts going to New South Wales today.

There is another thing our consumers have to contend with, and I'll quote from the Biggenden abattoir in my electorate. His bill is about $20,000 a month. Half of that, 50 per cent, $10,000, is electricity used. The other $10,000 goes to fixed costs, and that is to pay for the poles and wires. He pays that every month. That is $10,000 of network charges for his power. That's half his bill. When it came to putting power on to his abattoir, he had to doze his own line and put in about three power poles from the main source. Yet, for the effort he put in to hook that up to the main line, it's costing him $10,000 a month, and that has gone on for many years, with no sign of CS Energy or the power grid giving up that charge. So he's faced with network charges of $10,000 a month, which is $120,000 a year. That's the point I'd like to make about that. He's got some of his own solar on the roof— (Time expired)

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