HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-04 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Motions

Port Pirie Smelter

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Local Government) (11:34): I move:

That this house—

1. Recognises and congratulates the Port Pirie smelter on achieving its 125th anniversary of operation;

2. Recognises the significant contribution that this facility has made—

(a) towards the provision of materials for the Allies during World War II;

(b) to the economic and financial security of the Port Pirie community and the surrounding regions; and

(c) to the benefit of South Australia as a whole.

Today, I would like to talk about the highlights of the colourful history of the Port Pirie smelter leading up to next week's 125th anniversary celebrations.

Economic activity in Port Pirie first shifted dramatically in the late 19th century with the discovery of rich silver, lead and zinc-bearing ore at Broken Hill in 1883, coupled with the completion of a narrow-gauge rail from the town to Broken Hill in 1888. The following year, in 1889, a lead smelter was built by the British Blocks company to treat Broken Hill ore. BHP initially leased the smelter from British Blocks and then began constructing its own smelter from 1892.

By 1897, BHP had transferred all its smelting activities to Port Pirie and so the story of smelting in Port Pirie began, with millions of tonnes of metal being produced and many thousands of people being employed, often generations of the same family, throughout its continuous 125-year history.

Another milestone occurred in 1915 when the smelter was taken over by a major joint venture of Broken Hill based companies, becoming Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS). Led by the Collins House Group, BHAS became the biggest lead smelter in the world by 1934, processing both lead and zinc ore from Broken Hill. By 1921, Port Pirie's population had grown to just over 9,800 living in about 2,300 occupied dwellings. There were also approximately 62 boarding houses in the town to cater for the labour demands of the smelter and on the increasingly busy waterfront.

Port Pirie was declared South Australia's first provincial city in 1953, and today it is one of South Australia's largest ports and still continues to be very busy. It is characterised by a gracious main street and some very interesting and unusual historic buildings.

The smelter has been in constant operation for 125 years. There is an adjacent dedicated port facility where concentrates are received, with final products despatched by rail, sea and road. The Port Pirie facility is a primary lead smelter which also has the flexibility to treat a small range of other metal-bearing feed material. Port Pirie is one of the world's largest primary lead smelter facilities and the third largest zinc producer, which allows it to benefit from significant economies of scale.

As we are all aware, the smelter produces lead and associated products. In hindsight, a crisis was averted during World War II when the smelter was producing products for the Allied forces. It used to produce the lead for the Allied forces for munitions. According to the older locals in the community, there was a period when Broken Hill workers were to go on strike during this time and, if the Port Pirie workers had joined them, it might have jeopardised the supply of ammunition or munitions to the Allied forces. Thankfully, the Port Pirie workers elected not to go on strike, and that secured supply for our troops.

There have been numerous owners of the Port Pirie smelter over its 125-year history. However, a turning point came when Pasminco went into voluntary administration and everyone thought that the smelter would close. Everybody thought it would not close; the smelter had been going for over 100 years. But then, all of sudden, no, it will not close, but it was not a nice feeling. To everyone's credit—and I really must emphasise that—management, unions and the community worked together and the company was eventually taken over by Zinifex.

These people did not only talk about it but they actually joined forces. They joined together and worked together, and the staff accepted the suggestions by the workers. The workers are the ones who actually got us through. The unions, in actual fact, cost themselves money but they secured the success of Zinifex moving forward after Pasminco's very bad decision.

The rest is history, and we are here today with a proposed new state-of-the-art facility giving security to Port Pirie, the regions of South Australia and the South Australian economy for many years to come. I cannot emphasise enough how important this was to the city of Port Pirie. Everybody likely to be affected by a possible (even a likely) closure came together, as I said earlier, to ensure the smelter's survival. But it was not very easy. It was a very emotional time for everyone involved, not just for myself but the whole community.

We talk about people maybe losing their jobs. I woke up one morning and it was just the realisation. The share prices were going down. The share price got down to a couple of cents, and everyone said it would never, ever happen. The feeling is traumatic and, for the people in the South Australian Submarine Corporation and any manufacturing industry in South Australia and Australia, I can feel for them. I have been through this and it is not easy for anyone at all. In this case, it was not only me who was going to be losing my job—I worked there for 30 years and it is on my record—but the community would have been devastated.

However, even with all the uncertainty and concerns surrounding the city, the community of Port Pirie still managed, at that particular time, to raise in excess of $100,000 towards a helipad for the local hospital. That was a magnificent effort in a short period of time. I am sure members on all sides would agree that people in the regions are very supportive. No matter how hard things go, they see a positivity out of it.

Since becoming a minister, I have taken this approach of working together out in the regions. I believe that we can achieve great results across the whole state by working together and I have tried to embrace all parties—members opposite, local government, community and interest groups. I am convinced we can all achieve greater economic and social results for our regions and cash in on the innovation I am seeing if we take this combined approach.

The smelter workforce in its early years was in the vicinity of 2,000 workers and was by far Port Pirie's largest employer. The whole town relied on the workforce for its success, and still does. Today, through improved technology, the workforce is in the vicinity of 700 to 750 but the community and the regions are still greatly reliant on the operations of this plant.

One of the things that is not known very widely is that in the early days (and this has only ceased in the last 15 years) the company supplied large amounts of heavy equipment—trucks, graders and front end loaders—to the community to build various projects across Port Pirie. One of those projects was a community park which is now the biggest park in Port Pirie, and it was completed in just one day. The workers donated their time to these very valuable projects, which is still in effect today. Another one was the harness racing facility, the go-cart tracks and also lots of sporting clubs.

Over the years, there have been many great improvements at the smelter, not only in the working practices but also operating conditions. Port Pirie and the lead smelter have had lots of bad images from everybody, particularly the Adelaide and interstate media. Port Pirie, as are other communities in the state, are very proud of what they have got. They are very proud of what the issues are. We may have inherited some practices from years ago but, as we move forward, I am very confident that on both sides of the house we can see the great future of Port Pirie and get that image away. The member for Stuart would probably understand the issue because Port Augusta has the same issue, and also the member for Giles, because Whyalla had that image some years ago, but now it is going away. This is what we have to get. We have to look to the future.

Significant improvements have been achieved in the blood lead levels of the children of Port Pirie with the continued support of the South Australian government, and also the Port Pirie Regional Council, the community and the assistance of the EPA. This will improve dramatically with the new proposed plant which is due to be commissioned in 2016-17.

The Port Pirie redevelopment has the ability to transform Port Pirie, providing certainty and confidence to the community and the whole wider region. I must also reinforce that it will also be of great benefit to this state, because if we had lost another industry it would not have been going too well. The redevelopment ensures Nyrstar remains Port Pirie's major employer, the most significant private sector contributor to the economy and to the region, and a substantial contributor to the South Australian economy.

The redeveloped facility is expected to have an operating life in excess of 30 years, and will feature state-of-the-art proven technology currently installed at more than 25 sites globally. The redevelopment will replace an out-of-date sinter plant, with a state-of-the-art oxygen-enriched enclosure bath, smelting furnace technology and a new sulphuric acid plant. The sinter plant was built as a pilot plant over 50 years ago, and that is still going, but it needs to be replaced and this new technology will replace that.

The application of the new proven technology will also deliver a range of environmental benefits. The redeveloped site will deliver step change reductions in lead in air and sulphur dioxide emissions, leading to significant improvements in community health. Recognising their responsibility to the local community, Nyrstar provides direct and indirect support through a wide range of programs and initiatives. I must put on record here that Nyrstar (and Zinifex prior to them) took responsibility for the issues that they had inherited, addressed those issues, took them on board and spent many millions of dollars to address that without any economic gain.

Again, I reinforce my support and gratitude to the South Australian government and the EPA for the consideration. The primary focus is to provide support and manage initiatives that make a direct impact on reducing blood levels in our community, and this will happen eventually. Specifically to date these include sponsorships for breakfast programs within schools and childcare centres, assistance to community support agencies, such as Uniting Care Wesley, donations to local organisations, community events, and educational health promotions targeting young children and those disadvantaged in the community.

In parallel with the redevelopment project, a new targeted lead abatement program will be implemented. This program has been developed to assess current and potential future community lead exposure reduction strategies and assess those that are likely to have the greatest impact on reducing children's lead blood levels. Nyrstar has committed up to $3 million a year for the next 10 years and a further $5 million to accelerate the objectives of this program.

Many things have changed and improved throughout the smelters' diverse history. The commitment of its employees and the ability the site has to overcome the many challenges faced to ensure it has remained operational is a story in itself. Redevelopment of the Port Pirie smelter will develop a fundamentally different business model for Port Pirie. The redeveloped operation will be capable of processing a wide range of high margin, metal bearing feed materials. Government planning approvals have been granted, allowing the construction phase to begin this year, with anticipated commissioning by the end of 2016.

South Australia's Upper Spencer Gulf has a long history of supporting mining and advanced manufacturing, as well as providing key regional centres for the rural community. As a cornerstone employer, the Port Pirie smelter has been associated with South Australia's prosperity for 125 years, closely linked to the Broken Hill success.

This story has established the state's fledging economy. If the smelter had closed it would clearly have affected the entire community. I speak not just for myself as a long time employee, previously before I retired, but for the generations of families, like the Scarmans, who have worked at the smelters for many years. The staff and employees there were very loyal. We had people there with 50 years service. There were dynasties of families coming through, and many other members of the community would have suffered from through the knock-on effects of the closure, including people whose house's capital value would have gone down, and it would have been really bad. That is why the redevelopment of the smelter means so much to the people of Port Pirie.

This redevelopment would not have been possible without the government underwriting the project, and the community of Port Pire, the surrounding regions, and the state are very grateful for the survival of a great regional city. In closing, I thank everybody as a person, as a resident, for all the assistance I have had from both the Leader of the Opposition and the Premier. As we have moved forward, we have had a great success story. It is great that we have secured the future direction of Port Pirie. I am very gratified because, as I say, I have been through it before and I do not want to see anybody else go through something like that, to have a whole city destroyed by global influences.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:50): I rise in support of the motion from the member for Frome and commend him for bringing this to the house. I appreciated the detail that he provided about the formation of Port Pirie, the industries associated with it and the community that has driven the town's growth in that time. I was most interested in the fact that in 1953 it became the first provincial city in South Australia.

It is a very significant place, and it is appropriate that the parliament has an opportunity to talk about the good things that have occurred, the challenges that have been presented in recent years, and also the opportunities that are there for the community moving forward and the investment that is occurring as a result of government support—I acknowledge that—and indeed private enterprise very strongly in this multinational world in which we live where there is overseas ownership of industries that exist within Australia and South Australia.

I have a far-reaching connection with the town. My electorate is to the south of it. I used to live in Orroroo to the east of it, but my grandparents are buried in Pirie. I visited it just four months ago, actually, to go to my grandparents' gravesite. As a previous resident of Orroroo, I went there many times and I felt enriched by the quality of the people who live there. I think small towns, no matter where they are—and I class Pirie as a town still, even though it has about 14,000 or 15,000 people—have a strength of character to work their way through issues.

I think in the four times that I have had the privilege of going through Nyrstar and being shown the scope of works, meeting some of the contractors and employees who work there, seeing some of the old technology that exists and the need for investment to occur in new technology to provide the health requirements and the economic advantage to keep the business in a strong financial situation, it has been obvious to me that these are people who collectively just want to move forward.

There have been some challenging times. Some brave decisions have had to be made, no doubt. It has demanded good people to stand up and be strong in their opinion and to express that to others and to bring, in some cases, the industry that owns it, and the community, forward with them to recognise that they have to work through it. I know a long time ago I heard about the tenby10 project, I believe it was called. I know there has been a continued level of negative press attached to some health issues around the town, and we all want to see an improvement in that area. We all want to make sure that there is no risk to our young people in the community.

Bringing forward this motion about the impact that this industry has had upon the growth of what was a small place and a strategically located place, and what has occurred there over 125 years, is a good one for the member for Frome. On behalf of the opposition—and other members will speak in support of it—we commend him on that.

I understand and respect the commitment that he as a local has, having previously been an employee there himself and having relationships with so many people who are associated with it. It is something that is dear to his heart and like us, and presumably all members in this chamber, he wants to make sure that the industry is strong and flourishing, but importantly that the community which supports it, drives it and creates an opportunity for it is strong and flourishing and that Port Pirie continues to be a great place and one of the outstanding communities in South Australia.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Odenwalder): The Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (11:53): Thank you very much, Mr Acting Speaker.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: The father of the smelter.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No, I am not the father of the smelter; that credit belongs to the member for Frome. In this parliament we are meant to remove our identities. We are meant to address each other by our electorates or positions. The very strong fundamental principle behind that Westminster system is that when we come into this place we leave our individualism at the door and we speak for our communities.

The member for West Torrens, the member for Dunstan, the member for Chaffey, the member for Frome, the member for Colton; in this place we are not here as individuals, we are here as representatives of the communities we represent. In the to and fro of political debate and ideology, in striving to form government for our particular sides, sometimes—not always but sometimes—we forget the role that our founding fathers established for us in this parliament.

I think it is fair to say that the transformation of the Port Pirie smelter is a great example of a member of parliament who left his individual needs, his individual wants, at the door and walked into this place as the member for Frome to do the right thing by the people of the city of Port Pirie. I have to say that in my 17 years in this parliament I have never seen a member of parliament who is as selfless and dedicated and who worked for the benefit of a city that was on its knees. It was on its knees because if the foreign direct investment was not stimulated, it would not have come.

Let's ask ourselves this: imagine today what would have occurred if the Port Pirie smelter upgrade had not occurred? What would we be dealing with now? We would be dealing with a town that had a limited future, a town that was given no time to transform to a new future, legacy issues that would have been beyond their capability, if not our capability, to deal with, you would have seen mass social dislocation, probably family break-ups, and you would have seen banks foreclosing on properties because mortgages would have been unviable due to changing property values and because salaries would not have been paid because those workers would have been out of work.

And then you go to the indirect jobs: the local communities around Port Pirie and those contractors who support the smelter. The confidence of a community, the confidence of the Upper Spencer Gulf, would have been hit very hard indeed. This parliament spoke up in their defence. When the government announced on 30 April that an important milestone had been reached with the South Australian government committing to a financial package to support Nyrstar's upgrade of its Port Pirie smelter, there are two people we need to thank for that: one is the member for Frome and the other is the Premier.

The South Australian government will underwrite $291.25 million worth of investment in the Port Pirie smelter. Nyrstar will directly contribute $102.75 million. Nyrstar will forward sell $120 million of its silver to deliver the upgrade of the smelter and the remaining will be raised from external financiers supported by a guarantee.

Without wanting to anger the house, I read with interest the remarks of the member for Grey, Mr Rowan Ramsey. I have no doubt Mr Ramsey is passionate about his local community; I am sure he is. I am sure many of you know him better than I, but he said something publicly which I think was not accurate. He said that the commonwealth government would have given the EFIC guarantee regardless of what we had done.

I met with Andrew Robb three times—I think it was three times. The Premier met with him in China and in Canberra and, indeed, with the Prime Minister, and in all my discussions with minister Robb he made it very clear to me that that would not be the case. So the idea that Mr Rowan Ramsay can rewrite history is unfair. It is unfair to the people of Port Pirie and it is unfair to minister Robb, because minister Robb, to be fair to him, is one of the straight shooters in the Coalition. He is one of the smartest and most dangerous men in the Coalition. He was a former federal director of the Liberal Party. He is someone who knows how to win election campaigns and who has a very good political brain.

He was honest with me from the very beginning. At our first meeting he said, 'This is near impossible.' He was very clear about the hurdles he faced. He rang me and said to me that the commonwealth government would not be proceeding with an EFIC guarantee, would not be underwriting any investment, and that we were on our own. So I am not sure where Mr Rowan Ramsey gets his information from.

I am going to speculate for a moment. Let's say the member for Frome was unsuccessful at the election and let's just say the government still formed a majority. What would have happened to the people of Port Pirie? Would they have had the bargaining chip that they had to guarantee this reinvestment? Would they have had a Premier who was interested in the reinvestment? I think credit for this will go down in history to the honourable member for Frome.

Port Pirie has a proud history. It was one of the places that Greek settlers first arrived, and the site of the first Greek Orthodox church—they forget that sometimes—of St George, my patron saint, was erected in Port Pirie by the first wave of Greek migration. It is a melting pot of our country. The first flushes of multiculturalism were born in Port Pirie. They had a lot in common with the people they encountered in Port Pirie. They were both hardworking, they were both off the land, they were working at the smelter, they were market gardeners and farmers, and they wanted to build a better life. The community at Port Pirie gave that to them.

It is always amazing as a minister when you move around the country meeting and talking to people who are doing amazing things how they trace back their roots to either South Australia or Port Pirie. There are a number of those people throughout South Australia who trace their heritage back to Port Pirie. It is a proud city. It is a city that does not have its hand out, it is a city that wants a hand up, and that is the difference.

I have to say I am exceptionally proud of the work that community has done to stand up for itself. It is often defamed unfairly by people. It is good that the member for Frome stands up and defends them when they are attacked. It is good that this house is recognising the settlement of Port Pirie, its establishment and achievements.

It is true that our regional towns sustained us during World War II. Broken Hill and Port Pirie played a vital role in making sure that the Allies were victorious in World War II and that this country was able to defend itself at its time of most need.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, a lot of that lead can still be found in Germany now, I imagine. It was put to exceptionally good use. It was our industrial might and our resources industry that were able to pay for the war and sustain us during that war. Port Pirie has a very proud heritage.

I also want to say that before the last election I flew to Zurich to meet with Nyrstar to discuss their ever-increasing lead emission levels and what the company was planning on doing about their investment. Through the entire stages of that first meeting, through the transformation process and through the Olympic Dam Taskforce taking this in, we had a constant ally with us—the member for Frome. For that, on behalf of the government, I thank the member for Frome for his actions, dedication, hard work and passion for his community. Just quietly, I think it is probably why they returned him. He humbly shrugs his shoulders because he is a humble man, but I think it is fair to say that the campaign that was run against him was intense—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No, I have never called him a saint. He is not a saint. He knows how to negotiate. He does very well for his local community. He does lots for his local community and he delivers for them. I am sure that they will reward him again. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (12:03): I too rise to support the motion wholeheartedly and I know that my colleagues in opposition do as well. The member for Frome has clearly put forward some very useful background information supporting the motion, which I will not go over, but I would like to say that we have a very strong bond in the Upper Spencer Gulf. I know that very well as the member for Stuart, and it is that often stereotypical family affair where there is healthy competition between our cities—Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Whyalla—but when it comes to dealing with the rest of the world we stick together. The Upper Spencer Gulf Common Purpose Group is a very positive, strong example of that. It is actually a great pleasure, as the member who represents Port Augusta, to strongly support the member for Frome, who represents Port Pirie, on this. I am sure that the member for Giles would feel exactly the same way with regard to his representation of Whyalla.

There is a lot in common between those cities. We are highly reliant upon primary industries and simultaneously upon heavy industry, and that is a fairly unique situation. As time goes by and as times improve, and as environmental responsibilities grow, as they should, that interaction between primary industries, a fragile environment (as we have in the Upper Spencer Gulf) and heavy industry becomes more difficult and more important to work through. Our three cities are extremely aware of that. In Port Pirie there is the smelter, in Whyalla there is the steelworks, and in Port Augusta there is the power station. Of course, there is much more to those cities than just those things, but they are the three iconic heavy industries in each of those cities. We all understand that very well.

The smelter has been operating for 125 years, under various different managements, and consistently contributing to Port Pirie. It is a significant milestone that is very worthy of support. As the member for Frome said, the smelter has supported intergenerational employment, and that is critical. Let's be plain: it is not because people love working in a lead smelter, or they love working in a power station, or they love working in steelworks. It is because, at the end of the day, we are all people with families, mortgages and kids. We need to buy books and shoes for our kids and look after our older people—all the normal things that all of us want do to.

These significant employers in our cities have provided the incomes to the homes that have allowed our communities to sustain themselves and to thrive. That is why it is so important. Our citizens know that, and our employers—these companies—know that as well, and they take their important responsibilities very seriously. Whether it is Nyrstar, Arrium, or Alinta, they do the very best that they can to contribute to our communities and they need to be acknowledged for that.

I support this motion wholeheartedly. I think it is outstanding that the lead smelter has operated for 125 years. There are still improvements to be made. Obviously, the very significant improvement at the moment is the upgrade that is going on which is, among other things, about reducing emissions. Everybody knows that lead emissions need to be continually reduced. When this upgrade is completed, a significant step forward will have been taken and it will be time to start thinking about how to do even better and how to reduce emissions even further for the health of the community and of the environment. That is absolutely critical.

Just very briefly on the comments the Treasurer made, I will not share with the house the knowledge that I have of the many negotiations that were going on shortly after the last state election, but suffice to say that I have information which contradicts what the Treasurer just said. I firmly believe—I know—that Nyrstar, Port Pirie and the lead smelter would have got the support required for the very important upgrade that is about to take place. It would have happened whether the Liberal Party or the Labor Party had formed government. It would have happened whether or not the member for Frome was re-elected.

It would have happened regardless because whoever was in government and whomever was the member for Frome would have known how incredibly important this project and this company are. As it happens, the current member for Frome was re-elected and he did his job exceptionally well, and as it happens, the Labor Party was re-elected, and they did what they should have done. This house should be under no illusion: if it had been a Liberal state government we would have had exactly the same outcome for the people of Port Pirie. It is very important to put that on the record.

I wholeheartedly commend the motion. I admit to not having known all the facts that the member for Frome was able to share with this house with regard to the history of the smelter, particularly in terms of its contribution to the war, and I think that is outstanding information for the house to have. It shows that not only the owners and managers but also the employees, union and community more broadly, who were all involved with the Port Pirie smelter at that time, understood what a terribly important time our nation was going through. They all made sacrifices so that the smelter could produce the lead to provide for the manufacture of the munitions that were required for our nation. That is clearly a shining example out of the last 125 years but, for me, the most important outcome of the last 125 years is the families of Port Pirie, who thrive directly and indirectly because of the fact that the lead smelter is there and is successful, and it will now be successful for decades to come.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (12:11): I do not know that I can contribute a lot more than what the member for Frome and others have already contributed, but this is certainly a good opportunity to recognise the contribution of the smelter over a very long period of time. More important is the fact that having a refining capacity at Port Pirie allowed the ore body that eventually became the backbone of one of the biggest companies in Australia, BHP, to thrive and survive and do everything it needed to do over an exceedingly long period of time. It was part of the process of building that company, BHP, which has gone on to make a large contribution to the wealth and development of Australia. That should not be forgotten; it is a very important point to make.

It is also important to note that the decision to make an investment to upgrade the smelter was basically an on/off switch for Port Pirie. If the smelter disappeared Port Pirie would, essentially, cease to exist in the form it currently does. With the continuing operations of the smelter, with investment, Port Pirie will continue, and that is a good thing.

South Australia is heavily Adelaide-centric, the metropolitan area, and that is not necessarily a good thing. I believe strong regional cities are good for the state; they make their own contribution. Having a really heavy domination by a capital city or metropolis might be the way it is, but it is not necessarily ideal. Having strong regional cities is definitely of benefit to this state, so this continued investment has contributed to that, along with all the jobs and everything else, which is a good thing.

It was certainly due, after 125 years of essentially unchanged operations. Obviously there have been upgrades and slight changes but, effectively, the essential process has not changed a lot. When you did a tour of the facility, as members in this house will have, you can see why that upgrade was needed. It was getting a bit Dickensian and was certainly long in the tooth. You can see it was needed, so I am very pleased to see that.

For so many reasons—the improvement in health, the improvement in environmental outcomes, the improvement in the profitability of the company, and in the end profitability is what secures investment and jobs and continued investment in communities—it is good to see. From all reports I have had about it, I think it will be a very profitable investment for Nyrstar, and that is a very good thing. I had a very small part to play in that, and I am very pleased to have played that role.

The final point I would like to make is to observe the importance of metal refining, or the refining of ores and value adding to ores beyond the mere shipping out of ore concentrates, because I do not believe, in the long-term, that the mere shipping of concentrates is the best way to develop the resource bodies we have in this state.

Actually, South Australia is quite fortunate in that we do have at least a couple of metal refining operations. We have Port Pirie, of course, doing the lead, zinc and other metals, we have the copper smelter up at Olympic Dam—and of course there is the steelworks at Whyalla, sorry. The member for Giles was just about to correct me there. I could feel the glare from my right, and fair enough too.

So, there are three and, in many ways, that is unusual. The proportion of mines in South Australia that are linked to smelters or linked to that refining and the value add is a good thing. It is something that we should be looking to see more of. That will require the application of technology, as we are seeing at Port Pirie with the upgrade of the smelter technology. That will make it profitable. You can see that the value of applying technology to smelting can make refining and smelting in Australia profitable and, if it is, we should do it, is my view on that.

I think that, in many ways, having made the decision to invest, Nyrstar are actually pointing to the possibilities for the future of our state and the country in refining and smelting metals and making the most out of those ore bodies that we have. Notwithstanding the fact that we are blessed with some very big and very longstanding ore bodies that will last for a long time, smelting and refining will allow us to make the most of them. I commend the motion to the house. I congratulate the member for Frome for his work over a very long period of time in support of the smelter and for bringing this motion to the house.

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (12:16): Along with my colleagues and members on the other side of the house, I also support the member for Frome in bringing this motion to the house. I support the motion and add my congratulations to Nyrstar and the workforce at the operation in Port Pirie for achieving 125 years of incredibly important manufacturing in that centre.

As a number of speakers have been saying, it is incredibly important to have the ongoing operation of this smelter in Port Pirie, for a whole range of reasons, and I will come back to that in a moment. The member for Newland, I think, just said a moment ago that the reality is that South Australia is very Adelaide-centric, and that is the case. There are some major manufacturing operations in regional areas of South Australia, and the Port Pirie smelter is one of those. Obviously, the steel operations at Whyalla is another, and the paper manufacturing and timber milling and manufacturing businesses down in my part of the world are others.

One of the things that came to my attention a few years ago, which threatened all of those manufacturing operations, was the imposition of a carbon tax in this country. As the shadow minister for energy at the time, it became quite evident to me that, along with a couple of other major manufacturers—another one being Adelaide Brighton Cement—there was a very serious threat posed to those businesses by the imposition of a carbon tax in this country.

Much of the debate at the time of developing that tax was around how we might secure the ongoing operations of those specific manufacturers, in spite of the imposition of a carbon tax. I am delighted to be able to stand here in this place today and say that that threat no longer overhangs those manufacturing operations in South Australia or indeed in many other parts of this nation.

The reality is that the world is hungry for the products that come out of a place like the smelter at Port Pirie. The other reality is, no matter where those products are refined, they are going to produce carbon emissions. The other reality that we should recognise here in this parliament is that the carbon emissions produced per unit of electricity, which is one of the other big inputs into that operation, are probably lower in South Australia than they are in most other places, and that is largely because a fair proportion of our electricity is generated by using natural gas rather than coal, which is probably the preferred fuel in most other places in the world. So, we are in a beneficial place and I think it is important, for a whole range of reasons, that we keep this manufacturing operation in Port Pirie and in South Australia.

I totally agree with the comments made by the member for Stuart that, irrespective of the outcome of the most recent election, this operation would have been supported and, indeed, would be continuing and the outcome that has been achieved would have been the outcome achieved irrespective of who formed government and irrespective of who was the local member. I cannot imagine that any person would have been representing the seat of Frome without fighting absolutely tooth and nail to get the outcome that has been achieved.

Notwithstanding that, I congratulate the current member for Frome for the good work that he did. He did as his community would have expected him to do and he achieved the outcome that he sought to achieve, and that is good. I am sure the member will be able to feel happy about that for the rest of his days. If he does nothing else in his time in this place that achievement alone will stand him in good stead.

I want to comment about something that still disturbs me that has not occurred with regard to the city of Port Pirie, and indeed the smelter. There was a proposal a few years ago to undertake a water recycling project to enable the watering of some of the parks and gardens and other areas around the city of Port Pirie. As the shadow minister for water at the time, I was a strong advocate for that particular project. I think my memory serves me correctly in saying that we went to the 2010 election being obliged to fulfil that project and to put money towards that project. It was a project that was conceived as being funded by all three levels of government: federal government, state government and local government.

The local council in Port Pirie was certainly very forthright in its endeavours to bring that project to fruition. The opposition in South Australia, as I say, was committed to it and I think the federal government was at least warming to the idea. I think if the Liberal Party had formed government after the 2010 election that project would have been fulfilled. It is another important project for the city of Port Pirie. To the best of my knowledge, and I have not been a shadow minister for a while, that project is still languishing and it is one which I think had significant merit.

The member for Stuart and the member for Frome have talked about the community of Port Pirie. It is incredibly important that the community of Port Pirie is safeguarded, and that is what that project was about. It was about safeguarding the people who live in that community. It is one of the things that has fascinated me, that the Labor government in South Australia has failed to, I believe, meet its fundamental obligation to the people of that city and has failed to ensure that that particular project was funded and that the safety of the community in Pirie was enhanced. With those few comments, I also commend the motion to the house.

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (12:23): I am very happy to endorse this particular motion of the member for Frome. As the member for Stuart said, the community is in what is now referred to as the Upper Spencer Gulf, once upon a time the Iron Triangle. I am going to say it. We are talking about history here. I am going to mention the term 'Iron Triangle', but I am a very happy long-term convert to the term 'the Upper Spencer Gulf'. I think it is a term that we all live with and we all welcome.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

Mr HUGHES: Yes, it is a long time ago. None of us up in our neck of the woods now refer to it as the Iron Triangle. You can pick an outsider when they call it the Iron Triangle. None of us do. As the member for Stuart said, we are like a family in the Upper Spencer Gulf, and maybe it is a family without any parents: we are siblings. We are definitely siblings, and like siblings we have had our fights and our coming-togethers, and this has extended over a very long period of time. The sort of natural competition that siblings engage in was almost there from the start.

Whyalla is the youngest of the siblings. It has probably had some industrial steroids to grow beyond the others in terms of size, but both Port Pirie and Port Augusta were established before Whyalla got its guernsey and got its start. When you look at those very early days, before it was Whyalla, when it was Hummock Hill, Port Pirie was an essential part of that original community. While people were living in tents and what have you, across the gulf was a thriving town based on value-adding—

The Hon. G.G. Brock: It still is a thriving town.

Mr HUGHES: It still is a thriving town—based on value-adding to that enormous El Dorado up in Broken Hill. It is a pity that the border could not have been shoved a little further to the east, because Broken Hill really should be in South Australia. People in New South Wales might have something to say about that, but I think there is definitely a natural fit.

That link between Port Pirie and Whyalla goes back to those very early days. In fact, the iron ore from Iron Knob, which was the birthplace of the Australian iron and steel industry, was originally used as a flux at the smelters over in Port Pirie. That is where it went: just across the gulf, across those 22 kilometres—

The Hon. G.G. Brock interjecting:

Mr HUGHES: I thought it was actually shipped across. I think it was shipped across, because there was no rail line at the time linking Whyalla. It was shipped across, and in the other direction came the water. Port Pirie actually provided the water for Whyalla in those early years, and it was barged across until a small desalination plant was put in near what is now the power plant. The linkages go back a long way and the synergies between these communities go back a long way as well.

I might be a bit of a sad creature; I read some of the Hansard back from the 1930s to get a bit of a feel for the history of the place. I did this many years ago, and it was interesting how Port Pirie was advocating very strongly that the iron works, as it would have been, that was developed in the war years with the blast furnaces, should happen there. In fact, when the iron ore was being initially shipped out of Whyalla just before that, Port Augusta was arguing strongly that the iron ore from the Middleback Ranges actually go up to Port Augusta to be exported from that point. So that rivalry was there from the very early days.

People from Port Pirie, from the smelters—the workers and the families—used to come to Whyalla to holiday at the Point Lowly Peninsula, where you would find two of the most beautiful beaches in the whole of the Upper Spencer Gulf. One is Weeroona Bay and the one I just referred to is Point Lowly beach. The smelters actually built an incredibly impressive stone building to accommodate the workers and their families at Weeroona Bay, I think it was, and one of the reasons people used to come over, even back then (we are talking about in the 1930s and late 1920s), was partly because of that issue to do with lead contamination. It was essentially to give people a bit of a break from that in what is a very beautiful setting at the Point Lowly Peninsula.

It has had a long history, including that history of support for the war effort during the Second World War as an essential part of the building block of that whole effort that Australia undertook during those very difficult times. While Pirie was making its contribution, across the gulf in Whyalla there was a shell factory that produced shells for the Second World War. It was the start of shipbuilding in Australia, and it eventually became the largest shipyard in the country until its closure in 1979.

Both communities made this incredible and needed contribution to what was happening during the Second World War. We share other things as well. It sometimes has a bad reputation, partly generated by media response—

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr HUGHES: Yes, but, also, I think it is a bit deeper than that. I have always been very up-front in my community. Some people, to their detriment in Port Pirie, used to be up-front as well. When it comes to issues with pollution, whether it be lead pollution or, in my community, fine particulate (essentially, iron oxide), and the emissions from the power station at Port Augusta, I have always put the proposition to the companies and to my community that you do not want to sweep it under the carpet. You do not want to pretend that it is better than it is.

You have to address these issues because they have an impact—either a potential impact or a real impact—on your communities. Those communities deserve to live in a decent environment, so you need to be up-front about it and you need to work on constructive, practical approaches to address the problems. I think what is going to happen in Port Pirie over the coming years, with the very significant investment and the massive refurbishment of the plant there, is going to be good both in economic terms and also in amenity and health terms.

We also need to address the legacy issues of lead. Sometimes, because they are so dependent upon particular industries, communities do get defensive and you can understand why. I recall John Cornwall, when he was the minister for health many years ago—a quarter of a century, or more—having a stand-up fight with the then mayor of Port Pirie, who worked for the smelter—

The Hon. G.G. Brock: Bill Jones.

Mr HUGHES: Bill Jones—and that was on the front page of The Advertiser. In a sense, the minister was right: there is a problem here and we have to address this problem. It has taken a long time, but I share Pirie's experience with that because we went through the battle over the dust fallout, the fine particulate fallout, in Whyalla. A very constructive solution was found that enhanced the economic viability of the Whyalla community and led to a very significant improvement in amenity values and, potentially, some health issues in Whyalla with fine particulate.

That, in a sense, is the process that is now going on in Port Pirie and they will mirror that. I think it is very important. I do not want to get into the argy-bargy of who did what and who can claim the benefit, but I can say this: the member for Frome can put his hand up and say that he went that extra mile for his community to ensure the right thing was done for that community.

The cities of the Upper Spencer Gulf now get on like a house on fire. We have the Common Purpose Group, which has been slimmed down and will be far more effective, and there are enormous opportunities for our part of the world—for Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla. With those few words, I will resume my seat.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:34): I want to speak to the motion:

That this house—

1. Recognises and congratulates the Port Pirie smelter on achieving its 125th anniversary of operation;

2. Recognises the significant contribution that this facility has made—

(a) towards the provision of materials for the Allies during World War II;

(b) to the economic and financial security of the Port Pirie community and the surrounding regions; and

(c) to the benefit of South Australia as a whole.

The Port Pirie smelter has certainly been an icon in the Mid to Far North. It has around 750 employees and it smelts a variety of products, including precious metals, a copper plant and a zinc plant, obviously lead, copper cathode, gold and sulfuric acid. It does have an impact across the state and over the border, obviously, into Broken Hill. I know one of my local trucking companies from Coomandook has carted much material from Broken Hill down to Port Pirie. I also want to acknowledge that most of the ore that came out of the Terramin mine at Strathalbyn went to Port Pirie to be smelted, so having this type of facility within reach of getting these products refined for export has far-reaching implications.

I have been up there a couple of times to look around, and I have been through the facility. As the latest owners, Nyrstar have been very good in giving us briefings, especially in regard to the upgrade that is being commissioned. They have been great guides, and it is good to see what they are doing with the lead and those big silver ingots that come out of there. Over the 125 years, the smelter has been a real boon for the Port Pirie region and for the greater part of South Australia. Not only are jobs there affected but so are jobs right throughout the state in the mining field and over the border, in the Broken Hill region.

I declare a very small interest in that my wife, when she was an environmental scientist working for Kinhill when Pasminco owned the smelter, did a bit of environmental work—

Members interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, she always makes sure I am very careful with the environment.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: A small footprint.

Mr PEDERICK: That's exactly right, member for Stuart, I do have a small footprint on the earth—very gentle. Obviously lead, and the smelting of lead, is something that does have to be managed extremely well because, as we know in this place, it is the children—the very young children especially—who are the ones who are first affected if operations are not completed appropriately. We know there have been some issues around the smelter where they have struggled to get the limit of the micrograms per—

The Hon. G.G. Brock: Decilitre.

Mr PEDERICK: —decilitre—thank you, member for Frome—down below 10. When the Strathalbyn lead mine was being proposed and debated, environmental work had to be done in that area. Obviously, if there is a lead mine, there is a high background level of lead, so there had to be work done in regard to the background level of lead in the region and a lot of work done in regard to environmental monitoring to make sure things were managed. I know how it is managed at the smelter as well, where people change their clothes there and do not take home the clothes that are covered in lead because that has caused problems in the past, with the lead affecting children of smelter workers, and that is why they used the same practice at the Terramin mine at Strathalbyn.

I certainly do commend this motion, and it would have happened whichever government was in power; we certainly would have delivered on this. I will not see it, but I hope the smelter celebrates its 250th anniversary one day.

The Hon. G.G. Brock: We won't be here.

Mr PEDERICK: We won't be here. That's right, member for Frome, but it certainly is a real economic generator for the region and for the state, and I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (12:39): I will not hold up the house for very long. I feel compelled to stand up and support the motion brought to the house by the member for Frome, and I congratulate him on doing so. My relationship with Port Pirie goes back a fair way. Just to recount the story, when I was the secretary of the firefighters union, a former government (you can guess of which persuasion) looked at reducing the number of firefighters employed on a full-time basis in Port Pirie. As the secretary of the union, I then worked very closely with Mark Malcolm. You would remember Mark Malcolm; I think the organisation he worked for at that stage was the Port Pirie Economic Development Board.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Yes, the Port Pirie Economic Development Board. He is an outstanding individual and a great contributor to Port Pirie. His role and the board's role was about generating economic income for Port Pirie through diversification. What he undertook was a study of the value of the smelter to Port Pirie. It would not surprise anyone in the house, of course, that the smelter's economic value to the town was quite amazing, but just as important was the economic value it contributed to the state. As I understood it, and it would not surprise too many people, it was the single highest economic generator for South Australia at that point in time with respect to its exports and the fact that it employed the majority of the town, and those it did not employ were still dependent upon the role and the function of the smelter. I am pleased to say that that was a good project.

As I understood it, the firefighting services up there were to be reviewed because we had 50 full-time personnel in Port Pirie and just over the water, in Whyalla, we had retained staff. So, it was about making sure that we continued to have a presence in Port Pirie, but at the same time, over years, increase the level of personnel in our other regional towns across South Australia.

Mark Malcolm and his mob did a terrific job there, and I learnt a lot about Port Pirie. Who would have thought that many years later, as the minister for the environment and minister for regional development, my involvement would be based on lead emissions in Port Pirie? It was a difficult process but the commitment was there, the commitment by the smelters, by the government and by the people of Port Pirie to reduce the level of lead emissions and the impact that had, and has, on the people of Port Pirie.

What I am extremely pleased about is the commitment that is now being made—in no short measure due to the effort of the member for Frome and others—to revamp the whole smelter up there. It has and will provide Port Pirie with a future well beyond what pure lead smelting and zinc smelting would have provided. It will also, in its own way, clean up the air. It will address the emissions. As my friend the member for Giles mentioned earlier, there is still a commitment there that needs to be made—well, a commitment has been made—to address the legacy issues that exist with respect to that emission of lead over an extended period of time.

I congratulate the member for Frome on bringing this motion to the house. By the comments that have been made by all speakers here, I think we all recognise the importance of Port Pirie to the South Australian economy. I am extremely pleased that that contribution will continue in a varied form in the future. I also want to congratulate those people who have contributed to the sustainability, if you like, of Port Pirie over a long period of time.

I have a lot of friends from Port Pirie. My very good friend who now lives at Port Hughes went to Solomontown Primary School. He used to refer to it as the Solomontown institute of knowledge. I am also pleased to tell the house that one of the few venues from which I have ever been suspended from service was the Solomontown Football Club, but I will tell you about that another time. I will let you wonder what that might have been about.

Mr Gardner: Are you sure you don't want privilege?

The Hon. P. CAICA: No, I don't need it. It was one of the few places where service to me was suspended, and I wear that as somewhat of a badge of honour. You can make up your own mind on what that was about; I am not going to tell you.

The Hon. G.G. Brock interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: I can tell you after. I love Port Pirie. It has a great history. I congratulate Port Pirie on its 125 years and the contribution it has made to South Australia. Again, I thank the member for Frome and others who have been involved for the outstanding contribution they have made to ensure that Port Pirie will continue to be a shining light in the economy of South Australia.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT