State Prosperity Project

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister update the house on the importance of the South Australian mining sector and the state prosperity plan?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:06): I thank the member for his question. The ABS has released its latest round of financial year data, which reinforces the importance of the mining sector to our state's economy. The data shows that mining accounted for 30 per cent of total South Australian private capital expenditure for the financial year, a 9.7 per cent increase over the previous 12 months.

Our single most valuable overseas export was a product of mining: refined copper and copper products, reaching an all-time high of $2.6 billion, a 5 per cent increase compared to the last financial year. The opportunity mining presents is no secret to us or private industry. Over the 2023-24 financial year, we saw a 31 per cent increase to private mineral exploration expenditure in South Australia, the highest expenditure since the last Labor government in 2011-12. Of this expenditure, 73 per cent was targeting copper, the commodity at the forefront of our State Prosperity Project, the commodity of decarbonisation.

Mining fundamentally underpins the State Prosperity Project. South Australia has Australia's richest copper resource and superior magnetite iron ore resources, which are all proximal to existing workforce and land, with world-class renewable energy potential. Through our prosperity project, the Malinauskas Labor government is committed to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy to reindustrialise the Upper Spencer Gulf and herald a new era of prosperity for our state.

At the heart of our plan are the copper opportunities and the green iron opportunities. These commodities are critical to decarbonisation and decarbonising economies globally. Whether they be for electrical copper components or structural steel components, both these industries and commodities need to be decarbonised. The real opportunity for these minerals identified in our plan is to take advantage of an energy transition and beneficiate them cleanly in South Australia. That means that we need to build gigawatt-scale renewable energy, which is why we passed the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023 through this parliament, a truly revolutionary piece of legislation that will allow gigawatt-scale production of renewable energy.

I am pleased to advise the house that yesterday the South Australian government commenced consultation on an area of land around the size of Greater Adelaide, almost 12,000 square kilometres, that could be opened for renewable energy developments under this act.

Renewal energy companies continue to show a keen interest in these areas due to the significant wind and solar resources and a proximity to the government's investment in hydrogen and renewable energy infrastructure around the Upper Spencer Gulf. To pay tribute to the previous government, they also invested heavily in hydrogen through a hydrogen hub, which they were able to initially begin at Port Bonython. Both the previous government and the current government had an aspiration to see hydrogen being developed in our regional sectors. That bipartisanship unfortunately has been lost, but hopefully it can re-emerge. It's a long-term plan.

The front page of the paper today—I don't know who gave those details to The Advertiser, but I do know this: you sent a very clear message to all your colleagues, a clear message to all your colleagues that if anyone crosses you it's straight to the 'Tiser—straight to the 'Tiser. That's okay, I understand.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I understand. Two-votes Texas has got something to say as well. What do you have to say? Nothing. Okay. It's a long-term plan, but the Malinauskas government is moving apace to make sure South Australia seizes these opportunities.