Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:40): I rise to speak to the National Energy Retail Law (Retailer of Last Resort) Amendment Bill 2025. I note that, back in June of 2022, energy ministers tasked the Australian Energy Market Commission with undertaking a review into the retailer of last resort scheme. The Australian Energy Market Commission initiated a review into the arrangements for a failed retailer's electricity and gas contracts on 13 October 2022, providing both a terms of reference and a consultation paper.

Along the way, a directions paper was then released on 11 May 2023, and there was a draft report that was published on 22 February 2024. The final report of that inquiry was published on 20 June 2024. Following this process, energy ministers approved the amendments that are set out in the National Energy Retail Law (Retailer of Last Resort) Amendment Bill 2025 on 6 December 2024.

As the shadow minister indicated earlier, and as with previous changes to the national energy laws, we are the lead jurisdiction in South Australia and so the convention is that, as the legislation has been approved by the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council prior to it being introduced into the Parliament of South Australia, it does receive bipartisan support. The minister introduced the bill into this house on 18 September 2025. What this bill seeks to do is to amend the National Energy Retail Law (South Australia) Act 2011 and to make related amendments to the National Electricity (South Australia) Act 1996.

In regard to the cost-recovery reforms initiated in this bill, the bill makes it clearer how retailers of last resort can recover the costs they face when another retailer collapses. When a retailer of last resort takes on extra customers, it often has to quickly buy more electricity or gas and arrange new financial cover, which can be expensive. The new rules spell out exactly which costs can be claimed back, including energy purchases, administration and financing, and allow claims to be processed faster, within three months. This gives retailers more confidence that they will be repaid for doing the right thing, which should encourage more of them to volunteer to step in if another retailer fails.

In regard to the appointment of retailers of last resort, the Australian Energy Regulator will now have up to 72 hours after a retailer fails to decide which company or companies will take over its customers. Previously, this had to be decided in advance through a default retailer of last resort. This change allows the Australian Energy Regulator to share the load between multiple willing retailers rather than relying on one. The default retailer of last resort still acts as a backup so customers will not lose supply. This greater flexibility makes the system more stable and reduces the risk that a single retailer is overwhelmed by too many new customers at once.

Regarding credit support arrangements, the bill changes the rules around how quickly a retailer of last resort must provide extra financial backing, known as credit support, to the market operator. Instead of having to do this straightaway, a new retailer of last resort will get a one-week grace period, then four weeks to gradually build up to the full amount. This more flexible approach will help retailers manage their cash flow during what can be a stressful time, while still ensuring the energy market remains secure.

In regard to the plan flexibility in regard to the retailer of last resort, the Australian Energy Regulator will have more flexibility in how it prepares and maintains the official retailer of last resort plan, which outlines what happens when a retailer fails. At this moment, the law is very prescriptive about what must be included and when. The bill in front of us today relaxes these requirements so that the Australian Energy Regulator can update or test the plan when it makes sense, rather than on a fixed schedule. This will make the process more efficient and responsive.

In regard to designated contracts and customer protections, a major new feature of the bill is the ability for a retailer of last resort to offer customers a designated contract—a fair market-based plan, instead of the higher price default contract. These contracts must have the same basic terms as a normal market contract, keep prices at or below the standing offer, freeze prices for the first three months, and not charge any exit fees if the customer switches retailers during that period.

Customers do not have to give explicit consent, so the supply continues without interruption, but the retailer of last resort must publish the contract online and meet all consumer protection standards. The idea is to give consumers a better deal while making it more attractive for retailers to take part in the retailer of last resort scheme.

Finally, in relation to clarification around gas directions, the bill sets a clear rule for how quickly gas companies must respond when directed by the Australian Energy Regulator during a retailer of last resort event instead of having to act immediately. They now have 24 hours to comply and this provides a realistic, enforceable timeframe without putting supply at risk and aligns the gas rules with the new retailer of last resort appointment process.

We have had some discussion in this house today about the impact of electricity prices on private citizens and businesses. They have gone up many hundreds of dollars for citizens and thousands of dollars for businesses in this state. Part of that issue was the failure of hydrogen projects, not just here in South Australia but right across the nation. We have seen more than $600 million wasted on a hydrogen bomb scheme here in South Australia.

We have seen a $14 billion project in Queensland completely scrapped. We have seen a $600 million project in West Australia scrapped. We have seen projects scrapped in Tasmania and New South Wales. Woodside in Western Australia have also pulled out of a hydrogen project, and also 'Twiggy' Forrest has pulled out of a project. In this hydrogen dream, even if you get hydrogen operating, you lose 80 per cent of the hydrogen to get only 20 per cent of the energy at the end of it, and this is part of the reason why these projects, including the one here in South Australia, have completely failed.

I want to make a final couple of points around Project EnergyConnect, which we instigated as the Marshall Liberal government to get a powerline from Robertstown through to New South Wales and to have another interconnector to get the grid right on the east coast of Australia. Obviously, that connects South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. That grid connection has got as far as Buronga in New South Wales, and there is 150 megawatts of transferable energy able to be transferred along that line. Yes, it has got some time to go, but I want to let the house know what the minister said about this project when the South Australian section was finished. I quote from Minister Koutsantonis:

A well deserved congratulations to ElectraNet for completing the South Australian side of Project EnergyConnect.

This project will facilitate that connection that is vitally needed through to the east coast so that we can export renewable energy from here, which we have in abundance, and import energy that at times needs to come from Tasmanian hydro, New South Wales coal or other dispatchable power that we can utilise here in South Australia. This is a bipartisan bill and we are the first jurisdiction in the country to discuss this legislation. We support the bill.