Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the tabling of the third interim report by the Senate Select Committee into the scrutiny of government budget measures examining, in particular, Tasmania's energy crisis. But before I move on to that part of the report, I commend Senator Carr on his contribution here today on the issue of the CSIRO cuts. I absolutely support everything he had to say.

The Tasmanian energy crisis is regrettably a common theme in the report that has been tabled today and it shows the lack of transparency displayed by the Tasmanian government since the energy crisis began. Indeed, the first recommendation of the committee is for the Tasmanian government to be fully transparent about what has caused Tasmania's current energy crisis, how it will be resolved and the costs associated with this crisis. I want to quote directly from the report to show that the Tasmanian government—in particular, the Minister for Energy, Mr Groom—has been less than forthcoming with not only Tasmanians but also, I believe, with the committee. In discussing the response to the energy crisis the committee's report said:

The Tasmanian Government's response to the crisis has been insufficiently transparent, particularly in terms of the government's expenditure. Despite speculation in the media that the cost of the crisis is $400 million or more, the responsible minister, the Hon. Matthew Groom MP, was unwilling or unable to provide an up to date figure for the costs associated with the crisis.

It became very clear during the committee's hearing in Hobart that the Minister for Energy has failed to be transparent and has not informed or updated Tasmanians on this energy crisis. But it is not just Tasmanians who have been ignored. The minister also failed to talk to major industrial power users about the crisis. The committee heard that the minister did not consult or inform major industrial users of energy before the Tasmanian government decided to decommission and sell the Tamar Valley Power Station in August 2015. It was also revealed that the commercial reputation of Tasmanian business has been damaged because they have had to cut their power usage.

As I said at the outset, this report raises very serious concerns about the handling of Tasmania's energy crisis by the Tasmanian government, particularly because of the lack of transparency and accountability on a range of issues, especially the cost of the crisis, which, as I have already mentioned, will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and could cost Tasmania more than $400 million. This report also questions the lack of transparency on several other issues, including the government's decommissioning of the Tamar Valley Power Station, the time line for repairs to the Basslink cable and the costs that Tasmanians will have to bear because of the energy crisis. The minister, in my view, has been very secretive and has kept Tasmanians in the dark. Worse than that, he has been less than convincing in his answers and has maintained a 'cone of silence'. The day after the hearing, my colleague the Tasmanian Leader of the Labor Party, Mr Bryan Green, highlighted inconsistencies between the minister's evidence to the committee and information in documents obtained under right to information. Further to this, the committee found that the Minister for Energy had frustrated the committee by not allowing the relevant energy businesses to appear, despite him not being able to answer some of the senators' questions himself.

In supporting a full independent inquiry into Tasmania's energy crisis, the committee report said:

The importance of a full independent inquiry is further supported by the fact that this committee was barred from questioning relevant organisations, specifically the energy businesses. Minister Groom's appearance before the committee on behalf of the Government and all of the energy businesses frustrated the hearing process which would have been best served by being able to direct questions to the relevant organisations. In the interests of transparency and accountability these organisations must be able to provide evidence to an independent inquiry.

Because the committee was unable to question energy businesses such as Hydro Tasmania and Aurora Energy, we must have a full independent inquiry, and evidence must be given by the energy businesses. As well, the committee expressed grave concerns that Tasmanians will face a hike in power prices because of the energy crisis and the measures that the Tasmanian government have taken. On this budget eve, I know many Tasmanians already struggle to pay their power bills. Any increase will hit them hard. I commend the report and its recommendations to the Senate.