South Australians have been left holding a massive bill for the Malinauskas Government’s broken promise on hydrogen, with information obtained by the Opposition indicating further ballooning costs that can never be recouped.
The Labor Government’s invoice to taxpayers for running the Office for Hydrogen Power SA is over $30 million, including a whopping $2.3 million salary bill for the eight-person executive team and $5 million on consultants and contractors in just one year.
Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia said South Australians have been shortchanged by this Government.
“South Australians already get a shock when they receive their power bills and they should be outraged by the huge bill that’s on its way for their Premier’s vanity project,” Mr Tarzia said.
“Peter Malinauskas needs to immediately axe this colossal waste of taxpayer’s money before even more money goes down the drain.
“My greatest concern is that South Australians will be hit with extra Government charges as Peter Malinauskas tries to claw back the money he has wasted on his hydrogen hoax, just like they’ve experienced with SA Water infrastructure charges.
“He’s promised the remainder of the $593 million from the Hydrogen Jobs Plan will be redirected to Whyalla, but our figures show over $130 million of that is already gone.
“He needs to explain about how he plans to support the people of Whyalla but still bring down power prices for South Australians, like Labor promised.”
In addition to the cost of the Office, taxpayers will also be shortchanged on the promised refund of the now redundant turbines for the failed Hydrogen plant, with questioning by the Opposition revealing only a fraction of the money spent is recoverable.
Shadow Minister for Energy and Net Zero, Stephen Patterson said $126 million has been spent in capital costs, but only $25 million of that was spent on the turbines.
“The remaining $101 million has been primarily spent on engineering and design services, which is money that simply will never come back into the State’s coffers,” Mr Patterson said.
“The only reason we know about this expenditure is because of questions from the Liberal Opposition in Parliament and the expenses they are legally required to disclose.
“South Australians have a right to know how many other contracts this Government has taxpayers on the hook for, which will now go up in smoke because of another broken Labor promise.”
“The Government needs to come clean about how many consultants have had their pockets lined with taxpayer dollars thanks to this broken promise, while everyday South Australians struggle to keep their aircon running in summer because of mounting costs.”
Taxpayers bill so far....
|
Office for Hydrogen Power SA |
$30.7 million |
|
Spending on Office for Hydrogen Power SA FY 23/24 includes* |
|
|
Consultancies and contractors |
$5 million |
|
Executive salaries |
$2.3 million |
|
Travel expenses |
$718,000 |
|
Office accommodation |
$559,000 |
|
Marketing expenses |
$449,000 (including $186,000 on events) |
|
Capital expenditure** FY 23/24 |
$126.2 million |
|
Turbine deposit |
$25 million |
|
Engineering and design |
$101.2 million |
|
Total taxpayer bill |
$131.9 million |
*Source, OHPSA Annual report, consolidated financial statements
**Source, 2024-25 State Budget Agency Statements, Hansard
