Question Time

Whyalla Steelworks

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. What did the government find out this morning that it did not know a day ago, a week ago, a month ago or a year ago?

The SPEAKER: That's a fairly open question. The Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:13): What we knew late this morning that we didn't definitively know until it transpired was the will of the parliament to pass a piece of legislation that would facilitate the state government making the decision that we have.

The state government clearly has been working on a plan for many, many weeks—indeed many, many months. I have made that known in every possible forum that one could imagine over recent weeks. I have been rather transparent that we have had a plan. Of course, when you have a plan, though, you want to make sure it's one that you can execute. I am very glad that as it stands right here right now we have been able to execute a plan that stabilises the future of steelmaking in this country.

The objective that we have had is one that is very plain and very clear, but in order to be able to arrive at your objective you have to do the work—you have to do the work behind the scenes. There are a mountain of questions that have to be answered to make sure that everything is methodical, you have everything lined up, and then you are ready to act. That is what we have been working on behind the scenes. I know the Leader of the Opposition would like us to do that work in full public view, which would mean in the full public view of Mr Gupta himself. We would rather have a plan that works. We would rather have a plan that gets executed and delivers the desired outcome.

Now, we have been able to do that. I have to say from the government's perspective, for those of us who have been working on all of this for hours on end, it is liberating to be in the position we are now in where we can talk about it transparently and openly with the people of South Australia. What is even more liberating and what gives us even more comfort is the knowledge that, for every single creditor, for every single worker at the steelworks right now, they are in an infinitely better position right now than they were this morning.

By putting the steelworks into administration, it means a few key fundamental things. First and foremost, if a contractor goes into work this afternoon and performs a function at the steelworks, guess what? They are going to get paid for it, and they are going to get paid for it on decent terms. A worker going to their shift tonight at the steelworks knows that they are not going to wake up tomorrow and find out they are being made redundant, because the administrator is providing and has provided the government assurances about the future of those workers at the steelworks.

So now, we can start to restore confidence. Now, we can start to wind back the uncertainty that has been in place for weeks and months as a result of OneSteel Manufacturing not being able to provide that certainty to the government or the people of Whyalla and all associated industries that operate around it. Administration provides certainty. It provides clarity. It provides payment. It provides work for those people who have been going without it over recent weeks. You only have to spend a moment on the ground in Whyalla to know that first and foremost what people have wanted more than anything is someone to step up to the plate, someone to intervene, someone to act, someone to do something—and this government has done it now.

This government has done it. We have not rushed it. We have done it not a moment too soon and not a moment too late: we have done it exactly at the right point in time to derive the outcome that we all aspire for. For that, I am grateful to an extraordinary number of people who have been working around the clock behind the scenes, too many to name, but that does include indeed in this moment in time every member of the parliament who supported that legislation this morning in a timely way. For that, we are grateful. It was team South Australia getting to work, and the people of Whyalla will be better for it.