Hydrogen Jobs Plan

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Will the Hydrogen Jobs Plan reduce the wholesale electricity cost to industry by 8 per cent? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Labor's powering new jobs and industry policy document released before the last election states:

South Australia's hydrogen plant will reduce the wholesale cost of electricity to industry by 8%.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:11): A lot has happened, which I think the Leader of the Opposition hasn't caught up with. I will give my young friend a quick history lesson. Remember Sanjeev Gupta?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I said three words and they start screaming—three words. The Leader of the Opposition nearly pulled a hamstring running towards Sanjeev Gupta. The idea that we would let those jobs in Whyalla go, that we would let that blast furnace close, that we would let Whyalla suffer a minute longer under the underinvestment by Sanjeev Gupta, and the idea that the Leader of the Opposition has forgotten what has happened between February this year and now, is remarkable.

Obviously, when the state government placed Sanjeev Gupta's company into administration, what we did is we stopped this project and invested that money into the recapitalisation of Whyalla. Members opposite might not like us investing in Whyalla, they might not like us saving structural steel manufacturing in Australia, but don't pretend you don't remember it. Don't pretend you don't remember it. The idea that members opposite think they can shout their way through question time rather than ask questions that make sense, the idea that all of you have forgotten about Whyalla, speaks volumes about what your policy will be on manufacturing in regional South Australia.

We won't let Whyalla go down. Whyalla is too important to fail. Structural steel means something to this state and this country, and we are going to invest in it. So we cancelled that project and we have put that money into Whyalla. The reason we have done that is for a couple of reasons. We want to recapitalise Whyalla. We found a partner in the commonwealth government, and we are investing $1.9 billion with the commonwealth government to get a reinvestment into Whyalla. The thing about members opposite interjecting about this, it says to me that they do not support that investment in Whyalla. It says to me they do not care about the Eyre Peninsula—

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —and I would have thought any local member from regional South Australia, especially one in the Eyre Peninsula, would like to see $1.9 billion being spent on Whyalla instead of complaining about it. So, of course, we deferred the project and we're not building the Hydrogen Jobs Plan; we are investing that money now in Whyalla and we are putting up the generators for sale. We will recover a large part of those costs. Members opposite are trying to forget that. I have to say, the fact that they can announce a policy to buy generators, then criticise us for having generators as a waste really does take quite the spin.

Perhaps members opposite can stick to a coherent policy from start to finish and remember that Whyalla needed this investment and remember that Whyalla is the reason why we intervened. And remember the people of Whyalla are watching and listening. Members opposite who showed no regard for the people in Whyalla should be ashamed of themselves. These are hardworking people who deserve to have the Australian and state government standing alongside them. So I hope members opposite take a long, hard look at themselves about the way they are treating the people of Whyalla and the way they are treating the regional people, because they deserve this investment and their criticising it really is unbecoming.

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Flinders can leave question time for the next 15 minutes. It was nonstop; nonstop interjections after two warnings, including a final warning. We will see you when the big hand is on the 6.

The honourable member for Flinders having withdrawn from the chamber: