Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

If those opposite wanted to talk about Holden, why didn't they move a matter of public importance on Holden rather than this bizarre matter of public importance? It's another bizarre matter of public importance from those opposite that talks about Australians losing their jobs because of this government, which, as we know, is not the case. Since we have been in government in 2013, we have created an extra 825,500 jobs. The matter of public importance makes no sense whatsoever but that's really what we expect from those opposite. Very often they don't make much sense at all. I can tell you that what really makes no sense are the state Labor government in South Australia's energy policies that have seen us end up with the most expensive electricity in the world—not just in the nation, but in the world—and successive blackouts. The state Labor government have been in power for 16 long years and they have delivered a disaster to my home state.

We know why power is important—without affordable and reliable electricity, there won't be any jobs in Australia because employers won't be able to afford to employ people in those jobs. When electricity prices are too high and when electricity is unreliable, we hurt jobs, and that's what's happened in South Australia. This was the very clear message that I heard from my local employers at a forum that I held with the Minister for the Environment and Energy. I'm grateful to the minister for travelling to South Australia to talk to my businesses direct about the skyrocketing power prices in South Australia, what it means for them as employers and what it may mean for jobs.

Businesses in my home state of South Australia and in my electorate of Boothby are already doing it really tough thanks to the Weatherill Labor government's complete mismanagement of the South Australian economy. My businesses do not have the capacity to absorb the horrific electricity price hikes that will kick in on 1 January for many businesses. There is no employer being left untouched by this energy crisis in South Australia created by the South Australian Labor Party. I pray that those opposite, with their very irresponsible policies that they would implement if they were elected, will not be elected. I will be doing my very best to make sure that they're not, because if they are we will see the power situation worsen.

Our hotels, motels and pubs, who employ thousands of South Australians, are facing increases of 50 per cent in their power costs. Some businesses have told me that their power bills will be an extra $750,000 a year as of next year. That is unbelievable, and I do not know how those businesses will be able to absorb those costs. Some local supermarkets, for example, are facing up to a 72 per cent increase in their electricity bills, and others have bills that are doubling. We're talking of a lot of them, because they are relatively energy-intensive users—they have a lot of refrigerators and freezers and a lot of lights. We're looking at bills heading into millions of dollars of increased energy costs to them. These independent supermarkets, in particular, who employ about 5,500 South Australians across the state, are going to have to find these millions of dollars from somewhere to meet the cost of keeping their lights on and the fridges and the freezers running.

The government has had to budget for extra millions of dollars to build or buy generators so that when we start our Defence shipbuilding program we can guarantee that the power won't go out in South Australia. This is why we, on this side, have a highly responsible and careful energy policy that will make sure we bring down prices for hardworking South Australians, for families and for businesses. We will be doing everything we can to guarantee the reliability of the system as well.

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