This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, has slammed Malcolm Turnbull’s response to South Australia’s once-in-50-years storm, saying he is peddling “ignorant rubbish” by conflating the state’s blackout with its heavy use of renewable energy.



Andrews said the prime minister’s comments about the storm on Thursday were so ideological they could have come from the former prime minister, Tony Abbott, but at least Abbott would have waited until the natural disaster had abated before making similar statements.

He said Turnbull chose to link the two issues of SA’s extreme weather event, which knocked out the state’s transmission system, and the state’s use of renewable energy.

Malcolm Turnbull says South Australia blackout a wake-up call on renewables Read more

“The poles and wires had blown over,” Andrews told ABC radio on Friday.

“The prime minister has conflated two issues. This sort of ignorant rubbish, which I don’t think any South Australian would have appreciated in the midst of natural disaster ... his commentary yesterday, well Tony Abbott could have said it, it could have come from Tony Abbott, but I thought Malcolm Turnbull was a slightly different leader.

“And what’s more, I don’t think Tony Abbott would have said it in the midst of one of the most significant events South Australians have had to deal with for a very long time.”

South Australia lost power for hours on Wednesday evening after a severe storm tore 22 transmission towers from the ground and knocked out the state’s transmission system making it impossible to deliver power to homes.

Thousands of properties were still without power on Friday as restoration crews worked through more wild weather.

South Australia belted by second storm in 24 hours with winds of up to 140km/h Read more

On Thursday, the morning after the storm, Turnbull said the immediate cause of the power outage had been the extreme weather event which damaged a number of transmission line assets knocking over towers and lines.

But he also linked the blackout to the state’s heavy reliance on renewable energy, calling it a “wake-up call” for state leaders who were trying to hit “completely unrealistic” renewable targets.

He said it was time to stop the “political gamesmanship” between the states that has seen a state like Queensland set a 50% renewable target when renewables account for only 4.5% of its mix currently.

He said Australia needed to overhaul its numerous state-based renewable energy targets and move towards a single national target.

“We’ve got to recognise that energy security is the key priority and targeting lower emissions is very important but it must be consistent with energy security,” Turnbull said on Thursday.

Is this a new low: politicians using a natural disaster to push a fact-free agenda? | Matt Grudnoff Read more

“Let’s focus now and take this storm in South Australia ... as a real wake-up call, let’s end the ideology, focus on a clear renewable target. The federal government has one, as you know. 23.5% is our target.”

His comments came as government officials admitted that Australia’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reductions pledged at Paris in 2015 were made without any modelling to show whether existing policies could achieve those targets.

Andrews said on Friday the only way Turnbull would reach his renewable energy target would be through the “very state schemes that he is criticising”.

“You can’t offer no leadership on renewable energy, then in the midst of a natural disaster that is about the poles and wires blowing over that carry the energy, not the method that actually creates it, you can’t then claim that you’re a leader when it comes to innovation and taking action.”

Turnbull told 3AW radio that Andrews was being irresponsible by pushing a very ambitious renewable energy target for Victoria when he had no idea how he would achieve it, nor how to maintain energy security while doing so.

“Dan Andrews was asked by [the ABC’s] Fran Kelly how are you going to get there, he wouldn’t answer the question,” Turnbull said.

“But what he’s doing is creating distortions in the market doing one-off deals here and there which are distorting the electricity market, and he’s doing it without regard to maintaining security.

“Now, I am a very strong supporter of renewable energy, always have been. I’ve taken a great interest in the technology, I have a roof full of solar panels, I’m very keen on renewable energy, but we have to remember that yes we’ve got to reduce our emissions, that’s very important, but we have to maintain energy security and reliability.

“Yes cut emissions, yes. Renewables are good. We love them. Terrific. But the number one priority is to keep the lights on.”

In June, during an election campaign rally speech in Adelaide, Turnbull had praised South Australia’s leadership in renewable energy.

“South Australia is a leader in clean energy generation. [It] also benefits from our programs which support renewable including of course the renewable energy target,” he said.