Power play: Josh and Jay let rip

Shorten and Turnbull weigh in after the SA Premier engages in verbal biffo with the federal Energy Minister | WATCH

Bill Shorten has defended Jay Weatherill after the South Australian Premier was caught up in an extraordinary verbal exchange with federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg over the state’s power crisis.

Each man accused the other of trying to hijack this morning’s announcement of a world-first “virtual power plant”.

The $20 million solar and battery storage project is co-funded by energy company AGL and the federal government.

At the announcement Mr Weatherill said it was “galling” to have to stand next to a man whose government had treated his state disgracefully, while Mr Frydenberg described Mr Weatherill’s conduct as “childish and unbecoming for a senior political figure”.

The verbal biffo came after Mr Weatherill earlier this week announced his state would go it alone with a $550 million energy plan, and the federal government prepared to announce $2 billion to extend the Snowy hydro scheme.

Standing alongside Mr Weatherill during the awkward press conference, Mr Frydenberg said state governments, regardless of their political colour, needed to take responsibility for ensuring stability in the energy system.

Asked whether his appearance at the announcement was designed to embarrass Mr Weatherill, Mr Frydenberg said he “didn’t even know Jay was going to be here”.

Poor form @jayweatherill to gatecrash announcement where the Cth not the State Gov has invested in a $20m battery storage project in SA

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) March 15, 2017

Mr Weatherill said the Turnbull government’s Snowy announcement showed they were in a “white knuckled panic” about national energy policy, and “a $2 billion admission that the national energy market has broken”.

“We won’t wait four to seven years to invest in some Snowy Hydro scheme,” he said.

“I have to say it is a little galling to be standing here next to a man who has been standing up with his Prime Minister bagging South Australia at every step of the way over the last six months to be standing here on this occasion, him suggesting that we want to work together.

“It is a disgrace the way in which your government has treated our state.

“It is the most anti-SA government we have seen from a commonwealth government in living memory.”

Turnbull, Shorten weigh in

Malcolm Turnbull hit out at Mr Weatherill’s behaviour, saying: “I understand that the Premier’s conduct spoke volumes about the Premier’s state of mind at the moment.”

Mr Shorten claimed Mr Frydenberg had started the fight.

“I think it was the federal Liberals who tried to turn a terrible storm in South Australia into a political issue,” he said.

“The federal government’s been rubbishing the South Australian government and energy measures for the last few months, so Jay Weatherill’s defended himself against a government who’s been very inconsistent in terms of its commitment to renewable energy.

“I feel for Jay Weatherill. He’s got a federal government who plays politics and is subject to chaos.”

Mr Shorten blamed four years of Coalition government for chaotic national energy market.

“They’re now rushing out today to say they’ll do a study about spending over $2 billion in the Snowy, which may be a good idea or it may not, but in the meantime this government has presided over chaos for four years, and now the chickens have come home to roost and they don’t like Jay Weatherill, the media or the public criticising the federal government,” he said.

In his verbal tirade Mr Weatherill claimed the Snowy project would only come online in four to seven years’ time.

“It will probably only just pick up the natural growth in demand that will occur over that period of time,” he said.

“It barely will pick up the loss of power generation in relation to Hazlewood.

The Premier claimed Mr Frydenberg believed in an emissions intensity scheme but had been “cut down” by Malcolm Turnbull.

“That is why he went out and publicly advocated for it. It must have been a source for humiliation for him to be cut down by his Prime Minister within hours of publicly supporting that scheme. When the Prime Minister and the minister recover their courage and decide to advocate for something that they know is the right policy solution, we will be supportive of it,” he said.

“The truth is that they know what the right thing is. We know what the right thing is and when they recover their memory about what the right thing to do is, we will be there ready to support them.”

Mr Weatherill said he was “sick and tired” of getting criticisms across the airwaves from the eastern states about South Australia.

“We can’t wait for a Snowy Mountains scheme in four to seven years’ time,” he said.

Watch SA Premier @JayWeatherill shirtfront Federal Energy Minister @JoshFrydenberg on live TV, after gatecrashing the presser #auspol pic.twitter.com/82sMOqJl9j

— ABC News (@abcnews) March 16, 2017

Frydenberg fires back

Mr Frydenberg returned fire, saying the Premier had made a $550 million admission of failure earlier this week.

“Clearly, he has a big job to do to explain to the SA people why, on his watch, the lights went out, not once, not twice, not three times but four times,” Mr Frydenberg said

“Unfortunately for Jay Weatherill, he has to explain to the SA people why they are paying nearly 50% more for their electricity than other people across the national electricity market.

“Unfortunately, for the Premier, he has to explain why he boasted about creating a big experiment here in SA, while one of his ministers, Ian Hunter, said that SA was a laboratory and now they have to reach into their pockets, $550 million, to solve a problem that they created themselves with initiatives which won’t in fact completely solve the problem for SA.”

Mr Frydenberg accused Mr Weatherill of trying to “crash tackle” him at the announcement.

“He hasn’t put any money into this important initiative, which the commonwealth and AGL have, just shows you, unfortunately, how desperate he is,” he said.

Mr Frydenberg said South Australia should work with the other states at the COAG energy council table and await the outcomes of chief scientist Alan Finkel’s energy review.

He said Mr Weatherill should commend the commonwealth for yesterday’s work to solve the gas crisis with LNG provides and for today’s Snowy Hydro announcement.

“The Snowy Hydro is much bigger than Jay Weatherill,” he said.

“It is much bigger than the politics of the Labor Party.

“It is indeed much bigger than the failures of his government. It is about the future of energy policy right across the east coast of our country.”

Malcolm Turnbull should be commended for his leadership in investing in a nation-building project, Mr Frydenberg said.

“I actually think it reflects very poorly on the Premier that he has to engage in this type of petty politics when really today’s announcement is about a commonwealth and an industry and a player such as AGL coming together to announce that we will put in place 1,000 batteries and solar PV across this city to ensure that we move to a lower emissions future while driving down the cost of electricity and ensuring a more stable system.”

Mr Weatherill claimed the federal government had not told the New South Wales and Victorian ministers, whose states are co-owners of Snowy Hydro, about today’s announcement.

“Sorry, the Prime Minister spoke to the Premier, so, Jay, if you want to make comments, I would hope you would get your facts right,” Mr Frydenberg told Mr Weatherill.

“Victoria provides a quarter of your power. These lights may be being kept across this city because of the brown coal-fired power out of Victoria.”

“The only state that has had a blackout across its whole population is this state of South Australia. That was a very unfortunate development.”

Row rages on

Following the press conference both men had more to say, with Mr Weatherill accusing Mr Frydenberg of “trash talking South Australia’s leadership in renewable technology”.

“They have the gall to stand here next to a renewable energy project and pretend it is happy families,” he said.

“We won’t cop that. We are standing up for SA. We have this $2 billion insult today where money is being spent to keep the lights on in Sydney at a time when we’re facing energy shortages over the coming summer.”

Mr Weatherill claimed he didn’t know Mr Frydenberg was coming to the announcement.

Mr Frydenberg joked that perhaps SA Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis, who stood behind both men during the press conference, would be the next premier of South Australia.

“I think after Jay Weatherill’s conduct today, the public would think that is pretty unbecoming and childish and pretty unacceptable for a senior political figure of their state to behave,” he said.