Whyalla Steelworks

In reply to the Hon. F. PANGALLO ().12 November 2024).

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport has advised:

Public calls for administration championed by Mr Rex Patrick based on a whim were not helpful. They only stood to jeopardise the government's ability to impose an administration on OneSteel Manufacturing, the owner of the steelworks.

A decision to place OneSteel into administration had to have been accompanied by a robust plan to get the Whyalla Steelworks out of administration—which represented a significant and detailed body of work.

On 19 February 2025, the state government took decisive action to place OneSteel into administration. In partnership with the Albanese Labor government, the administration is fully funded which has provided certainty of payment going forward to goods and service providers that are critical to keep the steelworks operating.

The administrator will now seek to stabilise the operations of the steelworks, and secure its long-term future. We consider this will need to involve selling it to a new owner who will have the means to invest in the transformation of the steelworks.

The Malinauskas Labor government has also partnered with the Albanese Labor government to support a new owner to make long-term investments necessary to secure the future of Whyalla and Australian steelmaking.

Together, our governments will invest $2.4 billion to secure the future of the Whyalla Steelworks. This investment will include:

$100 million for immediate support for businesses, workers and the community.

$384 million to stabilise the steelworks by funding operations during administration.

$1.9 billion to invest in the steelworks' future, for upgrades and new infrastructure vital to ensuring the steelworks has a sustainable, long-term future.

Importantly, this doesn't just support the steelworks–it supports a vast number of local suppliers, small businesses owned and operated by South Australians, who rely on the future of the Whyalla Steelworks.

Our actions demonstrate the Malinauskas Labor government's prioritisation of sovereign steel manufacturing in South Australia and the town of Whyalla, now and into the future.