John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, I enjoy electricity. I like to turn the switch and the light stays on, and it does not go into darkness. I am not regretting leaving the dark state 25 years ago. In fact, there was a sign at Broken Hill, up there at Cockburn, when you went across the border: 'Last one out, please turn off the lights.' That was a sign when you left South Australia. You do not have to worry about turning off lights; they just went off automatically with the lack of electricity.

Here are the wind turbines. You put a wind turbine. It produces three megawatt hours. So what is the subsidy? Well, one megawatt hour is a renewable energy certificate, making $70 or $80. A three megawatt wind turbine means three certificates an hour, eight hours a day, 365 days a year. Multiply that by $70 or $80 and what have you got? You have got a $7,000-a-year subsidy to the wind turbine. That is for one. Of course, they are all over where I grew up at Jamestown. It was everywhere. A $7,000 subsidy for each tower.

But who pays for it? I will tell you who pays for it: the poor widow who is living on her own as a pensioner. It goes onto her power bill, because the coal fired generators have to buy the renewable energy certificates. What happens? Then the wind turbines can sell electricity cheap because they are getting so much subsidy. I am sure that Senator Farrell would be aware of a place call Port Augusta, 200 miles north of Adelaide. You ever been there?