Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Facts? Well, modelling is not necessarily facts. But what we do know is that we have a 50 per cent renewable energy target in South Australia and we have got to 41 per cent of that renewable energy target in South Australia. So, rather than relying on modelling or a report from the renewable energy council or the Climate Council or whatever, we have actually got a living experiment happening in South Australia—Jay Weatherill has quite proudly called it an experiment. And we know how that is working out. I really do not need to work over that old ground.

Then we can look at Victoria. Victoria is heading down the same path, with a 40 per cent renewable energy target. The Hazelwood power plant is due to close down. Let us have a look at what they are saying about that. Josh Gordon, on the front page of today's Age, reports:

Australia's electricity grid operator has warned that the looming shutdown of the ageing plant, which supplies up to a quarter of the state's power, could lead to breaches of the minimum energy reliability benchmark next summer.

Its data shows 72 days of potential "power shortfall".

That is over the next two years. The Australian Energy Council chief executive, Mr Matthew Warren, is reported as saying that:

… Victoria's energy security was looking increasingly fragile. He said the prediction of 72 days of possible reserve shortfall was unprecedented in recent history.

So we have got the example in South Australia—the living experiment, as Jay Weatherill so proudly proclaimed—and we have got Victoria moving down the same path, and we will see how that pans out over the next couple of years.

I want to take the debate to Western Australia. I am glad that the member for Brand is still here. The member for Burt was here but he has slipped out. We have had a change of government in WA, so we are in a brave new world. There is no doubt about that. When we look around Australia and we look at South Australia and Victoria, we are definitely in a brave new world. When we look at the current Western Australian energy mix, on the AEMO website at the moment it says that Western Australia is generating six per cent of its electricity through wind power. The other day it was up to 13 per cent, and the day before that it was zero per cent. But 57 per cent of Western Australia's power, at this point in time, is being generated by coal-fired electricity from the town of Collie, in my electorate of O'Connor. I am very proud of that. I am very proud of those hardworking coalminers in the town of Collie.

The electorate of Collie is represented by a good hardworking Labor member, Mick Murray. In the election just held, during the campaign, Labor abandoned, apparently, the plans by energy minister Bill Johnston for a 50 per cent renewable energy target in Western Australia. Why did he abandon that? Let's have a listen. This is from Andrew Burrellin The Australian:

Labor abandoned plans to unveil a 50 per cent renewable energy target in Western Australia after Mick Murray—the party's veteran MP in the coalmining town of Collie—threatened to quit his marginal seat before next week's state election.

Member for Shortland, you could take a leaf out of Mick Murray's book, mate.

After the recording—

of Mr Johnston's 50 per cent renewable energy target—

became public … Mark McGowan promised not to reintroduce any form of state based RET …

But what did he say? He said:

There will be no renewable energy target, at a state level, under any government I lead.

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