GFG Alliance

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. How many contractors have now gone out of business as a result of GFG Alliance failing to pay creditors?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:27): The Steel Task Force and my department closely monitor the critical contractors in and around Whyalla. It's fair to say that the government as a whole is very concerned about the strategic resource that is in the contractors who service GFG. There are a number of large ASX-listed companies who service GFG and they are big enough and bad enough to look after themselves and they largely know what they are getting into.

What we are concerned about isn't just the smaller contractors but who the contractors also contract through. The stories that we have heard through our multiple trips to Whyalla are about contractors knowing that if they have been paid they have been paid at the expense of someone else because of the way that GFG are deciding how and when to pay their bills. It is having a devastating impact on contractors in Whyalla.

The government is working up options to make sure that we can see this through but the fastest way possible to fix this problem is for Mr Gupta to pay his bills when they fall due. They are his responsibility.

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And as much as the shadow treasurer murmurs under his breath 'there are other options'—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Cold comfort. I just remind members opposite that the job of the South Australian government and the South Australian taxpayer is not to subsidise Mr Gupta. The job of the South Australian government is to ensure that the indenture in this parliament that requires steelmaking to continue, through the mining operations in the Middleback Range, proceeds. That is our ambition.

The prosperity plan as a whole is about the beneficiation of our raw materials into a product that can be sold globally and, ultimately, decarbonised. That's it in a nutshell. That adds value, that adds complexity and that adds jobs here in South Australia. We want to protect our smelters. We want to protect our smelter at Roxby. We want to protect our smelter in Whyalla. We want to protect our smelter in Port Pirie. This government is about protecting jobs, about protecting working families and making sure we do everything we can, but the way to fix this problem is for Mr Gupta to pay his bills.