Nyrstar

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:43): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier confident in the ongoing viability of Nyrstar and its Port Pirie lead smelter? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: It has been reported that Trafigura CE Richard Holtum has said that Nyrstar Australia should not be in fully private hands and that some sort of government ownership or significant government support is needed for smelting capacity because it is not competitive on an international basis.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:44): That is not what the previous government told us about Trafigura's purchase of Nyrstar. When Trafigura purchased Nyrstar, members opposite were cheering from the rooftops.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Things have changed, have they? Things have changed; okay.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: 'We ask the questions.' Did he have a cappuccino with you as well? Did he buy you a cappuccino too, did he? It is true that Trafigura are largely commodity traders. I was surprised when we were in opposition to hear members opposite really talking up that Trafigura had bought Nyrstar and what a great outcome it was and now I am getting questions from members opposite, who were previously cheering this purchase of Nyrstar by Trafigura who now tell us—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders is on his final warning. Member for Morphett!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What is occurring is, I think what Trafigura are raising about smelters in Australia generally speaks to why the Premier and the government have the prosperity plan. Australian smelting is at risk, it's at risk across the entire country, not just in South Australia.

You have seen interventions through the Reconstruction Fund, you have seen interventions with Tomago, you will be seeing more and more of this being discussed in the United States and Canada, Japan, Korea, the Alliance of Democracies in the Asia Pacific, the Alliance of Democracies in Europe and North America because smelting is at risk because there is one very large player who is producing a lot of smeltered goods at very, very low cost and is spreading those low production cost goods across the market while they are simultaneously paying very, very large prices for the raw commodities that go into those smelters.

Australia needs to very, very quickly—and the Albanese government is leading this work—understand that smelting is critical to Australia's future prosperity, hence the prosperity plan. The Port Pirie smelter is one of the most complex multimetal smelters anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere and it is something that we have intervened in the past to save. I think it is incumbent on a government to do all we can to make sure it has a prosperous future.

The questions that we need answered by Trafigura, and anyone else who may be the owners of that smelter, are: what is the long-term viability of smelting, what are the products it will be making? There are a lot of critical minerals that can be manufactured with relatively low capital costs at Port Pirie, things like antimony, which is already made there, and other products that can be made, like bismuth and others from the smelting process out of Port Pirie that could have military applications throughout Australia and the Western world. In terms of what the long-term viability of Port Pirie is, it is a critical city for this state, it is a critical smelter for this country, it is a critical smelter for the Western world. I think it has an important role to play.

We did not jump on the Trafigura bandwagon like the member for Morphett did when he was a minister. I will dig up the press releases and the ministerial statements in a moment. I can see him nodding already. He knows what he said. He knows how excited he was about it. He was all over it, really excited—yes, nodding your head really quickly. We remember all that. We will be working very closely with Trafigura, very closely with Nyrstar, very closely with the Whyalla Steelworks, and very closely with Roxby Downs. We want to preserve smelting capacity in this state, hence the prosperity plan. That is why we think it is important. What I have yet to see from members opposite is: what is their plan for smelting in South Australia, what is their plan for Roxby, what is their plan for Whyalla, what is their plan for Nyrstar?