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

It's clear that Senator Di Natale has not had time yet to have a look at the AEMO review—the study that looks at the requirements for base load-dispatchable power in Australia and highlights, indeed, some of the risks to the Australian economy, energy supply and affordability of energy of the current arrangements in Australian energy delivery. It's a report that highlights the fact that those risks have been exacerbated by the closure of the Northern Power Station in South Australia, which was a coal-fired plant, and Hazelwood Power Station, which was also a coal-fired plant. It's a report that highlights the fact that those risks have come about because—as indeed Dr Finkel himself highlighted in his work—the stability in the market has been undermined by an excessive reliance on renewable energies and by a loss of those steadying influences of base load power and the way in which they interact with the energy systems.

I invite Senator Di Natale to take a look at the AEMO report to actually see very clearly what it says and the indication it makes about the importance of maintaining stability in the system. It's why one of the early recommendations of the Finkel review that this government has acted on is to provide certainty around the closure of major base load generators. It's why we want to keep those major base load generators in the system for as long as possible. So, yes, it is why we want to keep Liddell Power Station open for as long as possible and why the Prime Minister is actively engaged in ensuring that Liddell Power Station does stay open to provide the time and the stability to ensure reliability in the Australian energy market into the future.