Upper Spencer Gulf Public Meetings

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on recent public meetings in Upper Spencer Gulf?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:27): I want to thank the member for Giles, along with the member for Stuart, who is also the Minister for Local Government, for, in effect, hosting us in Upper Spencer Gulf last week for probably one of the most engaging public-facing exercises that this government has experienced.

It was genuinely extraordinary to see the level of engagement from communities in Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and surrounds coming along to those forums at the beginning of last week. It was standing room only. Over 500 people registered for the Whyalla forum, for instance. I thought, 'How many are actually going to turn up?' They virtually all did.

What was most heartening was that the quality and depth of the questions coming from members of the community about what are largely complex subjects demonstrated not an interest but genuine engagement about the future of their communities and an appreciation of the fact that their standard of living, the prospect of their communities into the future having a healthy existence, was very much dependent and connected to the policy effort that is underway by this government with respect to how we capitalise on the decarbonisation of global industry and translate that into economic opportunity and prosperity for the South Australian people. Those forums very much speak to the reasons why the government has a comprehensive policy.

Across the three or four days that we were up in the Spencer Gulf, the government was able to announce substantial policy in this regard. We have talked about the Northern Water project, and we appreciate the bipartisan support that has been offered from the opposition regarding the Northern Water project as it progresses. We also note, however, there still remains ongoing cynicism from those opposite regarding the hydrogen project. What we will see happen—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Florey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: What we will see happen over the course of the immediate months ahead of us is that, on the Lincoln Highway, we will see a thousand people get to work on building the world's largest hydrogen electrolyser and power plant, and the rest of the world is taking notice. One of the announcements that we were able to make during the course of the economic summit was that none other than one of the largest technology companies in the world, one of the biggest engineering houses in the world, General Electric, will be building a 100 per cent green hydrogen-fuelled turbine that will be delivered to the Upper Spencer Gulf in that world-leading program. On top of that, we signed a partnership—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: Will it bring power prices down, though?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You couldn't; you didn't.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —with BHP, who will be co-designing with the state government on a brand-new technical college at Port Augusta. We build that technical college in Port Augusta quite deliberately because we see Port Augusta as being a hub—a hub for upskilling the workforce that will be required to capitalise on that opportunity both in Pirie and in Whyalla and the surrounding communities. BHP will be designing the courses that see us unlock huge volumes of copper that we know exist in the Gawler Craton to produce copper which is, of course, the critical mineral to end all critical minerals around electrification that the world so desperately wants and desires. We thank BHP for that partnership.

The other reason, to be candid about it, why we choose Port Augusta is we see a community that hasn't had the investment that it deserves when it comes to getting access to those skills. We want kids from lower socio-economic communities—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —we want children from Indigenous communities in the Upper Spencer Gulf to be able to get access to working in those industries of the future, because when they choose to do that they don't just get jobs: they get high-quality, well-paid jobs that put them on a path of prosperity for the rest of their lives. The State Prosperity Project is about improving the futures of the next generation of young South Australians to participate in the industries of tomorrow.

We know that coal is going out of fashion globally, we know that hydrocarbons will not be used in the same volume in 20 years' time that they are today and we know that the extractive industries that this country currently relies on for its wealth aren't going to be able to sustain us into the future. We also know that South Australia can be the home of copper, it can be the home of green iron and green steel and it can be the home of hydrogen. So the rest of the country's challenge is South Australia's opportunity. We are up to meeting that task; it starts in the Upper Spencer Gulf. They are engaged. We look forward to engaging with the rest of South Australia as we make this transition for the benefit of their prosperity into the long term.