Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to stand here and speak on the matter of public importance, and I'm delighted to follow my South Australian colleague Senator Ruston, who is continuing the tried and true tradition of the federal Liberal Party in South Australia, and that is to blame everybody else. It's fantastic. Nearly half a decade after they were elected, we've got a federal government that have presided over a complete mess in our NEM, our National Electricity Market, because they've been so internally divided. Now they want to blame everybody else for the mess they've created.

Meanwhile in South Australia, which is the state probably most exposed by the Commonwealth's failings, we are actually taking matters into our hands and trying to fix the mess—something Mr Turnbull could never do because of the internal division. So the contrast could not be greater: a government here in Canberra that is paralysed, when it comes to energy, by its own internal ideological differences—and you only have to read the reports over the last years that demonstrate that—that is trying to divert attention from its own failings by attacking a state Labor government that is actually trying to take practical steps to deliver more-affordable and more-reliable power.

Let's get a few facts straight. The Liberals here are now into their fifth year in office. The current Prime Minister is into his third. Under Mr Malcolm Turnbull, what's happened to energy prices? Up, up, up, up. The energy crisis has developed on the Liberals' watch. It is their responsibility. It's developed because they are so bitterly divided when it comes to energy. Mr Turnbull couldn't even get his own party room to agree on an energy policy. They still haven't got an agreement on a policy, but they're blaming everybody else. Instead of getting sensible energy policy, you've got the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia bringing lumps of coal into the House of Representatives and seriously talking up the prospects of spending millions or more—or billions—on nationalising clapped-out, failing, old, coal-fired power stations. Well, that is not an energy policy.

And their record on gas is even worse. We've seen gas prices soar. What have we seen from Mr Turnbull? Talk, talk and more talk. When gas prices kept going up, Mr Turnbull warned those gas companies that, if it didn't stop, well, he'd talk some more. In the meantime, hundreds of jobs at manufacturers like Qenos and Incitec Pivot are left hanging in the balance as they struggle to secure affordable gas supplies, with companies being offered supply at prices almost double what the ACCC says they should be.

Australians know that the handshake agreement between the gas companies and Mr Turnbull just won't deliver. What we actually need is a little less of Malcolm's incessant talking and a little bit more action—a government actually doing something to ensure reliable and affordable gas. If they were serious about doing that, about ensuring an affordable domestic supply of gas, they would have used some export controls to put some teeth into their agreements with the gas companies.

Let's contrast this with the action that the South Australian government has taken. Jay Weatherill and the Labor government are taking real action to ensure we secure reliable and affordable energy for South Australia. They have delivered the world's largest battery in record time. They are investing in state-owned power generation. After the Liberals privatised electricity in South Australia, we're investing in state-owned power generation and a solar thermal plant—actually taking charge of our own energy future. And what do the Liberals want? More reliance on the eastern states.

The South Australian Labor government is helping more households make the transition to solar with battery storage for 50,000 households—interestingly, criticised by the Liberals but actually pretty similar to a plan that Mr Frydenberg came to South Australia to announce, but then he slunk away because nothing really happened. We know that renewables mean cheaper power, and that's why the next step is for 50,000 homes with solar and batteries working together, providing cheaper power and more reliability. Energy prices in South Australia are already coming down, with the independent national regulator predicting a $300-a-year price drop over the next two years, and that's just the beginning.

In contrast, what do the Liberals want to do? They want to scrap our Renewable Energy Target—ideology if you have ever seen it. We heard it again from Senator Ruston today: 'Let's send ourselves backwards.' Former Young Liberal and former senator, Nick Xenophon, thinks wind farms cause brain damage. Let's be clear what this debate is about today. Labor says South Australia should be more self-sufficient and has the best plan for cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power. What's the Liberals' plan? They want to use taxpayers to prop up coal-fired power and make South Australia more reliant on the eastern states. The extent to which they have no idea what they're doing is demonstrated by their much vaunted electricity plan that Steven Marshall launched, where he said, 'There will be a $302 drop in prices,' and then just a couple of days later had to walk away; it might be only $60 or $70 in five years time. He couldn't even get his own plan right, because it's the wrong plan.

The sad truth about the South Australian Liberal Party is that the leader of the Liberal Party in South Australia is not Steven Marshall; it's Mr Christopher Pyne. Steven Marshall is Christopher Pyne's patsy. That's the hard reality. Where he should be championing his state, he ends up being Pyne's patsy, because he owes his job—lock, stock and barrel—to the control that Mr Pyne exercises over the South Australian Liberal Party. We see that time and again: Steven Marshall failing to stand up for South Australia when it comes to the GST, water and securing our energy future. The reality is that he is nothing more than a patsy for Mr Pyne. He would have been in a far better position if he had been prepared to stand up for the people of South Australia and the issues they care about, rather than simply doing what his political masters here in Canberra want. He is a weak Liberal leader. He is controlled by members of the federal Liberal Party, and in particular Mr Christopher Pyne. The problem is that South Australians know it. The game is up. If you want to know why former senator Nick Xenophon is as popular as he is, apart from—I acknowledge, Senator Patrick—the fact he that he is a very good politician and media performer, the reason is that people know Steven Marshall does what Chris Pyne wants, not what's good for South Australia.