Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Roberts for his question, which at least, unlike questions from those opposite, is focused on policy and the interests of the nation. Senator Roberts, we are aware of the stated intentions of the Queensland government and I can tell you—through you, Mr President—that energy security of course is critical to all Australians and must be a top priority for a successful economy. Queensland, we recognise as a government, is home to a range of businesses, including major electricity users like the three LNG export plants and Boyne Smelters. These businesses, and many others, are dependent on a secure, reliable and affordable energy supply to deliver vital export dollars for Australia.

We cannot afford to let them suffer the same fate that is threatening some business and industry in my home state of South Australia. We have had four South Australian large economic contributors who, by being without power for 15 days, have cost the economy tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars. Those businesses, of course, now face big repair efforts as a result, and it comes on top of other incidents that show the challenge of high price and low reliability due to the unique circumstances in SA. Last Friday, Minister Frydenberg called a meeting of the COAG Energy Council to discuss those events in SA. That meeting agreed that the prime responsibility—the prime responsibility—of ministers is to ensure the security, reliability and affordability of the energy system for all Australians. They commissioned an independent review, to be led by Dr Alan Finkel, our Chief Scientist, to develop a blueprint for energy security with recommendations outlining the policy, legislative and governance settings.

Queensland has not offered any evidence that its unrealistic 50 per cent target can be met without compromising security. The Palaszczuk government has made the completely ridiculous claim that there will be no closures of coal fired generators as a result of this policy, despite the huge loss of coal fired generation it assumes will occur. Our department estimates the cost to be $27 billion. (Time expired)