Thevenard Port

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:28): This time last week I heard some very concerning news from my electorate that the Port of Thevenard had been closed to all shipping. A draft engineering report has identified possible safety concerns regarding a section of the Flinders Ports jetty infrastructure. The concerns are with the older concrete jetty part of the structure that supports a section of Viterra's shiploading conveyor belt. That same conveyor belt, although owned by Viterra, is also used to load significant tonnages of salt, gypsum and mineral sands as well.

My understanding is that Flinders Ports is working with Viterra to investigate engineering and operational options for its infrastructure that may assist in providing a temporary solution and minimise the impact on operations and customers as quickly as possible while issues are addressed with the jetty infrastructure. I have spoken about the port facility at Thevenard on a number of occasions in this place, generally to inform people how important it is to invest in infrastructure in this state. I understand that the ports in this state are privately owned. They were sold in a time past by a state government and Flinders Ports is now the owner. I am flabbergasted that it has come to this.

The 2016 figures show that out of the Thevenard port, which is adjacent to Ceduna and which services western Eyre Peninsula, 381,000 tonnes of grain was exported from South Australian farmers; 461,000 tonnes of mineral sands, mostly zircon, was mined at the Jacinth-Ambrosia mine site, managed by Iluka north-west of Ceduna, and hauled by road train into Thevenard; 73,000 tonnes of salt went out last year over the belt; and, most significant of all, over two million tonnes of gypsum was exported from the Port of Thevenard mostly to the eastern seaboard, but also to New Zealand. This gypsum comes from the Lake MacDonnell gypsum mine, near Penong, and comes on three trains a day into the Port of Thevenard. That is a total of over three million tonnes of exports out of Thevenard.

It is a very serious situation because none of those exports is occurring at the moment. The facility is effectively closed and we do not know for how long. I have spoken with all the relevant parties, and Flinders Ports assures me that they are looking for a solution very soon. They are working with customers to identify alternative supply chain solutions, which does not augur well for the Port of Thevenard or the people of Ceduna. Flinders Ports is finalising a permanent solution to maximise the structural integrity of the jetty—something I have been calling for for as long as I have been in here—and they also hope to arrive at a delivery model that will facilitate completion of the construction works in the timeliest manner. In the meantime, all those operations I mentioned have ground to a halt.

Viterra is probably able to forward shipping on to Port Lincoln or other ports around the state, but it certainly leaves GRA and the gypsum, and also Iluka and their mineral sands, in a real quandary and seeking a solution that I would suspect does not include Thevenard. I have spoken to minister Mullighan about this issue. He was well aware of it, and through him we are seeking to meet with Flinders Ports at the earliest possible time, hopefully as soon as Monday next week.

Further, 200 jobs are at stake here, and 200 jobs in a small towns like Ceduna and Thevenard are significant. The whole town revolves around the port and its export facility. We are certainly going to be urging Flinders Ports to work towards a solution sooner rather than later and, should it require expenditure on the infrastructure, then we are going to be urging them to do that in a timely, cost-effective and efficient manner.