NARELLE GRAHAM: Do you think the Federal Government is on or around the mark with this $2 billion Snowy Mountains Scheme 2.0?
SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: The extract of Malcolm Turnbulls remarks that you just played where he talked about review this and review that, really demonstrates what this is. This is a big announcement about a feasibility study which could support the possibility of new storage of electricity in five to seven years time.
Now, it may well be a good idea, but lets not pretend this is leadership or a fast response to the crisis that we know exists today in the national electricity market. As much as Mr Turnbull may go and get good pictures up at the Snowy, the reality is he has failed to provide the leadership when it comes to electricity market, and thats what we are paying for.
GRAHAM: They are saying it will provide 20 times the power of the South Australian Governments battery scheme which was announced earlier in the week. Isnt that better for South Australia? For the whole of Australia?
WONG: None of this is real yet. All this is is $500,000 for a feasibility study to look at whether in fact this could occur. The extent to which this is an announcement to try to deal with a political problem is demonstrated by the fact that they havent talked to the Victorian Government, which is a shareholder in the Snowy Hydro Scheme, and it doesnt appear that they have spoken to the NSW Treasury, which is a shareholder in the scheme as well.
So, it may be well and good - and if I talk to you in five to seven years time and its up and running, that would be great - but weve got a problem now. Theyve been shamed into this by the fact that Jay and the South Australian Government has stepped up to the plate and said here is a plan to deal with this now.
GRAHAM: I wondered about the timing, it did sound like it was some sort of measuring contest to me, because there was this ours will produce this much more than yours will produce. There are a few power issues going on Penny Wong, reliability, also cost. Is there a way that we can work out which of these solutions that keeps getting put forward is going to reduce the price of power?
WONG: Lets start with what the Australian Energy Council has said, that the lack of national policy certainty is now the single biggest driver of higher electricity prices. Thats a pretty clear statement of what is occurring in the market and the fact is weve had so much conflict and so little certainty in the market that we are seeing a lack of investment for new generation and we are also seeing older generation exiting the system, as youd expect. A lot of our coal-fired power stations, a lot of our baseload power, is having to exit the system because it is reaching, or is beyond its design life.
Now, what weve had, unfortunately, is a Federal Government that is hamstrung, that is having its own internal ideological fight and hasnt provided the policy certainty that is required to give the signal to the private sector to invest in generation. Thats why Jay and the State Government have had to set out the plan that Jay announced this week which includes Government involvement in this market in a much more direct way.
GRAHAM: I also wanted to ask you about yesterdays announcement on the gas shortage, where the PM says hes been assured by gas producers that Australia wont run short. As the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs one of the problems affecting gas availability in Australia is the amount thats exported. AEMO tells me 70 per cent, and if that were reduced to 65 per cent we wouldnt have to worry about running short. Politically though, is that delicate for our relationship with other countries?
WONG: The primary issue here is that the Federal Government has to work with the industry to ensure that the domestic gas market is properly supplied. Its a good thing Malcolm had a meeting but I wish hed be doing something about this for some time. We do have to ensure that the domestic market is supplied, we have to work with the companies to ensure that happens and we have to demonstrate to them that it is something Australians expect, that we have the amount of gas that is needed, on the east coast particularly, supplied to the domestic market.
GRAHAM: What would be Labors plan for that? To make that happen?
WONG: What Bill Shorten has made very clear, and hes been making very clear for some time, is that we need a national interest test. We announced that a couple of years ago. That says we look at projects and determine, if they are going to proceed, do we need to reserve any of the gas from those projects for domestic users to ensure we reflect the needs of the Australian market, not just for energy production, but also for manufacturers.
GRAHAM: Penny Wong, we come to todays clash with the Premier Jay Weatherill and the Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg. Did the Premier overstep the market or do you think Minister Frydenberg got what was coming?
WONG: I dont know about you, but I thought when we had that awful storm, we had transmission lines keeling over, we had people without power, and we had the Federal Government and the Prime Minister trying to play politics with it, I thought this is a government that does not understand what is happening in South Australia. Since that time weve had nothing but criticism, nothing but finger pointing.
It says something to me about this Federal Government that when the Premier and the Government announce their plan the first response that Mr Frydenberg has is that hes going to get legal advice to stop them. Its as if the Federal Government is saying were not going to fix this crisis - were going to try to stop you fixing it as well. So, I think Jay standing up for SA is exactly what he should have done. He did what I think South Australians expect.
GRAHAM: We would expect you of course to support him, being of the same political colours..
WONG: Sometimes people have got to stand up for the state. I think the problem with Steven Marshall, over and over again, is that he doesnt appear to do that. Hes too busy toeing the line that Christopher Pyne and the Federal Liberals demand that he toe.
GRAHAM: Senator Penny Wong, just before I let you go, one of the questions that were throwing out today is, being South Australian, because confidence is low in this state, what makes you proud to be South Australian?
WONG: Many, many things. Remember, we were the first place in the world where women could both vote and stand for Parliament. Weve had a long history of tolerant, progressive politics, a community that is marked by tolerance, not by extremism. Its a creative state, and its a state which is always looking to how you build for the future. Im very proud to live here, Im a very proud South Australian and Im sure all of your listeners are too.
GRAHAM: Thank you. Senator Penny Wong there, the Labor Senator for South Australia.