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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-16 Daily Xml
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NYRSTAR

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (15:20): Nyrstar Port Pirie is a great South Australian company. It is part of a globally integrated mining and metals business which specialises in zinc and lead. The smelter in Port Pirie processes 195,000 tonnes of lead, 30,000 tonnes of zinc, as well as significant quantities of copper cathode, silver, gold and sulphuric acid.

This business employs in excess of 700 people in Port Pirie. It is the largest employer in Port Pirie and it is crucial to the long-term viability of this economy and this very important community. However, make no mistake: the future of Nyrstar hangs in the balance. Today, the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation revealed to the parliament that the EPA had conducted a mid-term review of the licence which Nyrstar operates under. He made it clear that in the next couple of weeks he would be releasing a new licence for Nyrstar with increased licence conditions, placing greater burden on this business.

On 1 July this year Nyrstar will be hit with the federal government's toxic carbon tax. This has been widely reported in the media as costing the business at least $6 million in the first year and $10 million every year thereafter. Nyrstar is a trade-exposed business, it is a trade-exposed industry, and this significant cost impost in the business will seriously undermine the future viability of this business and this community.

In fact, because it is a trade-exposed business, Nyrstar has the opportunity to ask for a rebate. In fact, with its smelter, which operates in Tasmania, it has been successful in getting a 95 per cent rebate on its carbon tax back to the company. Unfortunately, this same condition has not been put in place for Port Pirie, with a much smaller, much reduced rebate so, therefore, we are talking about a cost impost on this business of $16 million over the first two years of the operation.

Nyrstar is a major regional employer. It is also a great exporter from South Australia. It is an exporter of product which is not a raw material: it is a processed product, precisely what we need to be supporting here in South Australia, precisely what this government needs to be supporting. This government needs to move away from its support of the federal government's toxic carbon tax and make sure that it is supporting our manufacturing sector, our processing sector, and our trade-exposed industries.

The Premier spoke in parliament yesterday three times confirming the importance of Nyrstar to the people of Port Pirie, the people of the region and, indeed, to the entire Australian economy. So it begs the question: is the government really contemplating legal action against this great South Australian company? Yesterday, I asked the minister whether he could confirm to the house that he had received a briefing from the EPA where they had informed him that they had finalised their briefing to the Crown-Solicitor's Office to contemplate legal action against Nyrstar. He refused to answer the question.

Today in the house I asked the Attorney-General whether he could confirm that his office, the Crown-Solicitor's Office, had received a briefing from the EPA regarding this alleged breach by Nyrstar of their licence condition and the fact that they were contemplating legal action. He refused to give us a straight answer.

Something is going on. This government is not coming clean with the people of South Australia, they are not coming clean with this parliament and, most importantly, they are not coming clean with the people of Port Pirie. This is a great South Australian company. It deserves a lot better than a sneaky, deceptive government which refuses to give a straight answer to a straight question. What is going on? Is this government contemplating legal action against Nyrstar? If they are, come clean, let us know what it is all about, take this spectre away that is hanging over the heads of the people of Port Pirie and, indeed, this government.

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