Ben Hood was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in March 2023. He lives in Mount Gambier with his family and is a passionate advocate for regional South Australia, for smaller, less interventionist government and conservative values.

Ben Hood MLC

15 hours ago

Ten years ago today, South Australia went black.

850,000 homes and businesses lost power. Some were out for two days. Business SA put the cost to local businesses at more than $360 million.

This morning the Energy Minister described the blackout as “our finest hour”.

That will come as news to anyone who sat in the dark. So what has “finest hour” delivered since?

South Australians now pay the highest power prices in the nation. When the Australian Energy Regulator set this year’s default price, we were the only state where the household cap went up while New South Wales and Queensland came down.

And $250 million of your money was spent on four gas turbines for a hydrogen power plant that never got built. Nineteen months ago the Minister promised they’d be sold for the purchase price or more, and installed here to power the state. They’re still unsold and that’s about all we know.

A decade on we have seen more of the same: higher bills, wasted money, and no real plan for the firming power this state needs.

We need energy policy focussed on affordability, reliability and practicality over Labor’s ideology. ... See MoreSee Less

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Ben Hood MLC

2 weeks ago

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