Mr. Mark Foley:

On the question of the cheapest form of energy generation, when the wind is in abundance, the price of that generation is extremely low. That is a fact and market data support it. The simple reality is we need the right balance between renewables and gas for the next ten to 15 years, until such time gas can be transitioned to hydrogen, which produces zero carbon.

Both, in combination with batteries and other services, will produce what has been proved to be the most economic and holistic proposition on the market for consumers.

Regarding the Senator's second point, we have not signed a contract with a data centre operator for over 12 months. It is important we have a policy framework for signing such contracts that imposes some degree of obligation on the data centre customer to help us in the challenge of matching supply and demand. What the regulator has been doing over the past couple of months, which it will publish in the near future, will strike the correct balance. The data centres will be able to get connections and sign contracts with us but they must bring something to the party to help us work through the next number of years and meet the challenges we face.