Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister specifically confirm that on the day after the blackout in South Australia last year, the conference call between the Prime Minister's office, the energy minister's office and environment and energy officials was told: 'Australian energy market operators' advice was that the generation mix, that is, renewable or fossil fuel, was not to blame for yesterday's event. It was the loss of 1,000 megawatts power in such a short space of time as transmission lines fell over.'

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nothing better illuminates the delusion of the Labor Party than that question. They are in a state of denial—a complete state of denial. Let us go to the Australian Energy Market Operator's report, and what does it say? Talking about the growing proportion of variable renewables in the South Australia grid, that is to say wind and solar: 'The growing proportion of this type of generating plant within the generation portfolio is leading to more periods with low inertia and low available fault levels, hence a lower resilience to extreme events.' That is what AEMO says. The reality is that of course it was not the windmill that caused the transmission line to fall down. Nobody said it was. What happened was typical of the lazy, negligent, complacent Labor government. They introduced more and more variable renewables into the mix, increasing the vulnerability of the transmission network, increasing the lack of resilience of the network—as AEMO has said—and, when the storm came, the network went down. If the power station at Port Augusta had been operating, it would not have—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, the question goes to one issue only, which is asking the Prime Minister whether he received a specific piece of advice. There is nothing else in the question other than asking whether or not he received that. We quoted the advice in the question.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister is relevant to the subject of the question; he is not drifting off the policy subject of the question. The Prime Minister is in order.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The AEMO's advice has been consistent, always, with what is in their report, and that report is exactly as I read it. The fact is, you have much more wind in South Australia than you have in other states. As a result, you need to have more backup power, more storage—but the South Australian Labor government did not bother getting around to that. So they became more and more reliant on the interconnector to Victoria—where they are busily drawing down brown-coal-fired power, I might say. What an extraordinary irony!

The reality is that the Labor Party have lost the plot on energy. They can continue pounding away—we can see them, led by the Leader of the Opposition—to the light on the hill. There they are, the legions of the Labor loyalists. They are going there, on their way to the light on the hill. Through the darkness of the night, the light is there. It is still. There is not a sound. But then you hear, softly at first but then louder and louder, the chug, chug, chug of the backup generator—because that is what you need to power the light on the hill! Or anywhere in South Australia nowadays. The people of South Australia have been sacrificed on the altar of Labor's incompetence and ideology.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs is warned.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the FOI which reveals the direct opposite of what the Prime Minister just said to the House.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is leave granted? Leave is not granted.