Nyrstar

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Mining and Energy. Can the minister update my community regarding future opportunities for Nyrstar's Port Pirie smelter following the first production of the antimonial metal recently? With your leave, and that of the house, sir, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Recently, the state government, in partnership with the Tasmanian state government plus the federal government, granted a grant to the company to assist the company to produce an antimonial metal that will be a critical metal for our defence and other industries.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:12): When you are a united government, you can get good outcomes for regional South Australia. Imagine if we were a divided government. It would be very hard to get the deliverance you need. But we are a united government, all working behind for one common goal, supporting our leader, no division, no talk of midnight coups, no-one having to rule out a form of challenge, these types of leadership ambitions.

But I can say that the people of Port Pirie, who are recovering from an horrific storm, would welcome the news coming out of Nyrstar. Antimony metal has been delivered from the first trial and that is a huge milestone. Antimony is a metal that is used in the defence sector to harden shells, harden bullets and reinforce armour. It is an important tool and it is fair to say that this metal has been monopolised by one country. The entire world supply of antimony is held by China, nearly 96 per cent. The rest is held in strategic reserve within the United States and it has now begun to be manufactured here in Australia.

This is one of the greatest opportunities for Australia amongst our strategic partners and world democracies. Democracies need access to these metals. It is not just about rare earths and rare minerals; it is about rare metals.

It is one thing to have the resources; it is another thing to beneficiate them into a finished product. A finished product is everything. Without that finished product, we would be reliant on one country and one country alone. That doesn't mean necessarily that China is an adversary. It could mean that China's neutrality could mean we would not have access to that metal. Australia and our allies need an independent source for these types of crucial metals.

The important thing is that we have earned, over decades, a hard-fought social licence in the city of Port Pirie for lead smelting. There is not a single functioning lead smelter left in the United States, not one. There aren't many cities in the United States—indeed, there aren't many cities anywhere in the world—putting up their hands saying, 'We want a lead smelter in our town.' Port Pirie have fought hard for this and now their time has come. The world needs this commodity. The South Australian government, the Tasmanian Liberal government and the Albanese Labor government are working together to make sure that Nyrstar have a long-term future.

I have said previously to this house that when the Prime Minister was in the Oval Office and in the cabinet room with Madeleine King and Tim Ayres Port Pirie was mentioned regularly. There are not many times when the President of the United States—regardless of your views on who the president is or what their politics are—could point to a map and say, 'That's Port Pirie.' Things have changed.

Port Pirie is a strategic city, it is a very important city, and the metals that they make will help in our nation's defence. Hopefully we will never need these metals. Hopefully we will never need antimony, but if we do need antimony our allies know that they can rely on us to provide them with this antimony. Antimony ended World War II a year early: this is how vital it is.

The people of Port Pirie, who have worked so hard and have suffered through so much—whether it is in perceptions or in rural health risks—now have something that the world needs. This government is prepared to stand right behind them because they deserve to have our support and they deserve to have their moment in the sun. We hope that through the strategic work of the Albanese government and the Trump administration we can progress this critical rare metal.