Giles Electorate

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (15:15): I rise today to talk about a number of positive initiatives in the electorate of Giles. Before going on to the specifics, I need to acknowledge the commitment by the state government of $50 million towards the Whyalla steelworks, towards whoever will happen to be the new owner of the steelworks. That support is conditional on the money being spent here in South Australia, in Whyalla.

I hope the letter that has been sent to both the Prime Minister and to the Leader of the Opposition in this caretaker period gets a very quick bipartisan response. The request for both of the major parties in this election period to commit $100 million will go a long way, in conjunction with the $50 million from the state government, to give some comfort to the people of Whyalla who have for many months been facing real uncertainty and real job losses. As I have said previously in this chamber, there have been up to 1,000 direct job losses in Whyalla already to date, so a speedy commitment on the part of the federal parties would be very welcome.

This comes on top of the Whyalla small business loan scheme, the $10 million that has been set aside for local contractors who were facing incredibly difficult challenges when it came to cash flow due to the operation of Arrium and the move into administration. Having spoken to a number of contractors in Whyalla, I know that this scheme has been a godsend. Without it, companies would have gone to the wall, companies that provide essential services to the steelworks and companies that employ a lot of people in Whyalla. As I have said in this place before, they are companies that have been built up over many years and are part of the fabric of our community. That builds upon the change to steel procurement policy.

One of the frustrating things I find about this place, in this chamber, is that a lot of words are spoken with no great effect or impact at the end of the day. Sometimes it is the quiet work behind the scenes that I think is the important work, and it is work that those of us on this side engage in. There would be a lot of members on the other side who also engage with ministers and advisers to try to get decent outcomes for their communities.

Back in 2014, when I was elected, I identified my top priority as changing steel procurement policy in South Australia. That has happened, and it will make a significant difference when it comes to taxpayer-funded projects in South Australia and when it comes to the use of Australian steel and specifically structural steel from Whyalla. I think that is a real plus.

I am going to talk about a number of other positive initiatives in the electorate, and in so doing I fully acknowledge the major challenges that are being faced and will be faced in the electorate of Giles and specifically in the community of Whyalla. Top of the list of the challenges is the loss of jobs that have occurred in the electorate. Leading up to my election and subsequent to my election, many jobs were lost at Olympic Dam, which had a major impact on workers' families and the community of Roxby Downs. Close to 1,000 jobs, as I have already said, have been lost in Whyalla.

Although a semi-optimist by nature, I have never been prone to wearing rose-coloured glasses. We should honestly and objectively look at, assess and act on the difficulties we face, so the positives that I am going to flag in no way detract from what has happened with job losses. The various positive proposals will go some way to addressing job losses and help diversify the economy of the region. Although not a done deal, the proposed copper concentrate plant at Whyalla is good news. If it gets the green light, there will be 100 construction jobs, in addition to 100 permanent jobs. It will also probably lead to the port of Whyalla becoming a copper concentrate export point.

Time expired.