Nick Harmsen
Nick Harmsen is the political reporter for ABC News in South Australia. An award-winning journalist, Nick has more than a decade's experience reporting for a host of ABC programs from Queensland, South Australia and Parliament House in Canberra. For the past five years he has focused on South Australia's political scene, covering elections, budgets and debates on ABC TV, online and during regular appearances on 891 ABC Adelaide's Spin Cycle. In 2011, Nick and his colleague Angelique Johnson were nominated for a Walkley Award for their breaking coverage of the SA Government's leadership transition from Mike Rann to Jay Weatherill.
He who must not be named: SA politician repeatedly 'snubbed' in Parliament
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In a scene straight out of Hogwarts, South Australia's Lower House transforms into a Chamber of Secrets, with a Labor MP repeatedly refusing to say the name of a new colleague and political rival.
Topics: state-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
AEMO postpones works to protect SA grid
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Planned work on a Victorian transmission line will be delayed following SA's power station fire.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, emergency-planning, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
Boost in natural gas electricity generation urged by SA Premier
Posted
A plan which could force more gas into South Australia's energy market to put downward pressure on power costs and improve reliability is flagged by Premier Jay Weatherill.
Topics: states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, environment, electricity-energy-and-utilities, adelaide-5000, sa
AEMO bolsters power reserves, reassures SA electricity customers ahead of heatwave
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The national energy regulator takes the highly unusual step of reassuring South Australians that it is not forecasting supply shortfalls as temperatures reach the high 30s over the next four days.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, alternative-energy, environment, sa, adelaide-5000
SA Unions president to stand for Legislative Council preselection
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The South Australian Labor Party is set for more infighting over preselections, with a group of left-wing industrial unions backing their own candidate for a vacancy in the Upper House.
Topics: political-parties, parliament, state-parliament, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000
Load shedding in SA heatwave three times amount ordered
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Electricity load shedding in South Australia last week, which affected 90,000 customers, was three times the level ordered by the Australian Energy Market Operator, a report into the blackouts finds.
Topics: government-and-politics, states-and-territories, sa, adelaide-5000
Why was South Australia's power shut off during the heatwave?
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South Australians enduring a severe heatwave have been warned they could face power cuts as the state struggles to meet power supply demands. We take a look at the process of load shedding and why it takes place.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, alternative-energy, environment, wind-energy, solar-energy, states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, sa, australia
Key Labor MP to quit SA politics
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Labor veteran Stephanie Key tells supporters she will exit South Australian politics when voters go to the polls in March next year.
Topics: states-and-territories, political-parties, alp, government-and-politics, ashford-5035, croydon-5008, adelaide-5000, sa
SA blackout investigation puts power import plan on hold
Posted
Analysis of South Australia's September blackout identifies a "potential stability issue" when high power imports coincide with high levels of wind generation in the state.
Topics: states-and-territories, parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, electricity-energy-and-utilities, sa
South Australian power bills to rise after Hazelwood's closure
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The closure of Victoria's Hazelwood coal-fired power station is expected to drive up South Australian power bills by 7.2 per cent next financial year, adding about $115 to the annual bills of an average household.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, states-and-territories, community-and-society, adelaide-5000, sa
Renewable energy mix played role in SA blackout: third report
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South Australia's renewables-heavy power mix was a factor in the statewide blackout in September, a new report by the Australian Energy Market Operator confirms.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, weather, storm-event, sa, australia
Open letter calls on SA politicians to keep nuclear waste dump debate alive
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A group of prominent South Australian business people, academics and scientists sign an open letter to the state's politicians urging them to keep discussion alive on building an international nuclear waste dump.
Topics: nuclear-issues, environment, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
SA blackout costs revealed with fears of more outages
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South Australia's statewide blackout in September cost business $367 million with the state's big companies bearing the burnt of losses, figures show.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
SA Liberal Party given a boost ahead of 2018 election
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The Liberal Party's chances of winning the 2018 South Australian election have greatly improved after a boundary redistribution notionally handed the party two additional seats.
Topics: electoral-system, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
South Australian blackouts a case of history repeating itself
Posted
Those who blamed last week's blackout in South Australia on renewable energy are dead wrong, but that does not mean the state's renewable-heavy power mix is not posing problems as ABC political reporter Nick Harmsen explains.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, state-parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, weather, sa, adelaide-5000, australia
SA Government commits $432m to child protection changes
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South Australia will spend $432 million on changes to its child welfare systems, in the wake of scathing findings by the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission.
Topics: state-parliament, parliament, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, child-abuse, public-sector, adelaide-5000, sa
Documents show SA Opposition could target Oaklands crossing
Posted
Leaked documents reveal the South Australian Opposition is considering a pre-election commitment to spend up to $150 million and upgrade the Oaklands road and rail crossing in Adelaide.
Topics: federal---state-issues, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, local-government, urban-development-and-planning, oaklands-park-5046, marion-5043, adelaide-5000, sa
Attorney-General's Senior Counsel application gets special consideration: SA's top judge
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Special consideration was given to Attorney-General John Rau's application to become a Senior Counsel, South Australia's Chief Justice Chris Kourakis confirms, to spare any embarrassment had it been rejected.
Topics: judges-and-legal-profession, law-crime-and-justice, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa
Adelaide's Peel Street a car-free small bars zone over summer
Posted
The city lane between Currie and Hindley streets is to be free of cars over summer weekends, as the City Council and State Government try to entice more people to enjoy the area's growing number of small bars.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, states-and-territories, local-government, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa
Bob Day forgave $1.5m loan to Family First amid business troubles
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New documents confirm that Family First Senator Bob Day effectively gave $1.47 million to his political party a year after taking a sizable dividend from his loss-making home building empire.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-parliament, parliament, corporate-governance, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
What do the AEMO's findings into SA's blackout mean?
Posted
South Australia's ABC News political reporter Nick Harmsen breaks down the latest findings from the Australian Energy Market Operator into the state's recent blackout.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, state-parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, weather, sa, australia
Family First senator urged to explain business demise
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Bob Day, who has resigned his Senate seat in light of his business collapse, has not been available to answer questions other politicians are asking.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, states-and-territories, parliament, federal-parliament, state-parliament, adelaide-5000, sa
Police ombudsman scathing of delays in SA disciplinary cases
Posted
South Australian police on discipline charges are able to prolong matters because of a system which lacks transparency, the acting police ombudsman claims.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, police, adelaide-5000, sa
'I will repay all debts': Day's pledge as political career ends
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Family First senator Bob Day confirms he is leaving politics as his building company goes into liquidation, saying he will "repay all debts" and will lose his family home.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, parliament, minor-parties, australia, sa
Wind farm prediction problems contributed to SA electricity price hike
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A problem with predicting the output of South Australia's wind farms was "the major contributing factor" in a major spike to the wholesale electricity price in mid-July, the Australian Energy Regulator says.
Topics: wind-energy, alternative-energy, environment, electricity-energy-and-utilities, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
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