The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (11:57): My question is directed to the Minister for Energy. Noting that the average life span of wind turbines is 20 to 30 years, that the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner estimates that the cost of commissioning a single wind turbine is between $400,000 and $600,000, and that there is a power imbalance between farmers and large energy companies, will the Minister support a mandatory decommissioning bond scheme to ensure that no farmer is left disadvantaged at the end of any renewable energy project on his or her land?

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE (Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, and Minister for Heritage) (11:58): I have already indicated that the short answer to that is no. The reason is that we already have a significant decommissioning process in place that is mandatory for renewable energy projects, as is appropriate. As part of development approval—

The Hon. Wes Fang: What's the bond?

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE: Are you going to stop interjecting?

The Hon. Wes Fang: You said there was a bond. What is it?

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Wes Fang will cease interjecting. As I have said several times this week, Ministers' answers will not be peppered with comments from members on the benches. The Hon. Penny Sharpe will not respond to interjections as it only makes the situation worse.

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE: It is very hard to answer questions in a civilised manner when there are constant interjections.

The PRESIDENT: I understand. The Minister has the call.

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE: It is particularly hard when I have been asked a question by a member of this House who is genuine. I suspect she actually wants an answer, and I am trying to give her one. There are a range of different ways to decommission land to make sure that it is returned back to its original state if it is not going to continue to be used for renewable energy projects. Members opposite previously agreed with us that decommissioning bonds were not the way to deal with that. We will deal with it in a number of ways. Firstly, we will work closely with landholders to make sure that they know all the information when they host projects. Many landholders across the State are very happy with the arrangements that are in place. They understand the decommissioning arrangements well.

Secondly, I make the observations that once renewable energy projects are in place, particularly solar farms and wind turbines, it is unlikely that they will be completely decommissioned over time. The blades and panels may run out over time, but once the infrastructure is there it can be replaced and upgraded as technology gets better. There is a future where the large turbines we use may get smaller and smaller as the result of new technology. I am not pretending we are there yet. I am trying to give a genuine answer about these matters. Decommissioning is a mandatory part of development approvals. As I said, the problem is that decommissioning bonds are essentially an up‑front renewable energy tax that will kill the investment we require in New South Wales to actually build the projects under the roadmap. The privatised energy system has also made it harder.

Decommissioning bonds are not the answer that members opposite think they are. All they will do is slow investment and make it more difficult to get projects off the ground. They will not guarantee that projects will even get built in the first place. In the meantime, ageing coal-fired power plants are coming out of the system. We will have an increased risk of liability problems and increased prices because of wholesale spikes as outages on those coal-fired power stations increase. I understand that some members think decommissioning bonds are the answer, but they are not. They are a great big tax on renewable energy that will kill the roadmap.

The time for questions has expired. If members have further questions I suggest they place them on notice.

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