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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-04 Daily Xml
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Motions

Port Pirie Smelter

Debate resumed.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Local Government) (12:45): I thank everybody very much for contributing to what I consider a very important issue of the success of the Port Pirie Smelter and the acknowledgement of the 125th anniversary. I sincerely thank members from both sides of the house for what they have said.

Member for MacKillop, can I also just mention that we do have a water recycling plant there now. It was a partnership between the Port Pirie Regional Council, the Nyrstar smelter and the federal government. It was a $6 million or $7 million project, and 100 megalitres of water are being utilised. With the new plant, going forward we will be able to get new extra water. I wanted to let you know that that is already there due to the council, Nyrstar and also the federal government putting money into that.

Mr Williams: No support from the state government?

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: There was some support from the state government also, but the point is that we have a plant there. The other thing is that, as the member for Giles indicated, the Upper Spencer Gulf is a great place to live; we are like a family. The rivalry there has been very vicious sometimes but, at the end of the day, what we want is to provide the best opportunity. Whether it is Port Augusta, Port Pirie or Whyalla, the Upper Spencer Gulf is working together—it is a common purpose group—to get the best opportunities.

The other thing is that I was not aware of the involvement of Whyalla in World War II, but certainly there was an Air Force training ground in Port Pirie, where 4,000 airmen trained during the Second World War. So, again, that is another thing that Port Pirie was involved in.

In thanking everybody who has contributed to the debate, I want to say thanks very much to all the people who assisted me following the last election—from all sides. We have a great outcome for a city that may have been decimated. We have a great outcome for the Upper Spencer Gulf and for our state. I am seeing that there are opportunities out there and, as I said in my speech, I think that, if we all work together, we will be able to get on top of these issues.

We have all been promised so many things, and Port Pirie over the years has been promised many things, over successive governments. We lost the brass factory, the container factory, the mineral sands factory, and we also lost the Coca-Cola factory, the railways and the oil companies and things like that. We lost about 6,000 workers all up, and yet Port Pirie is still vigilant and it is still going, as are other regional towns. They are very vibrant, and they want to continue going forward.

I am looking forward to the greater success of Port Pirie. I am looking forward to future generations—hopefully, I will be around for a while—being able to enjoy the security that this will give to Port Pirie and the surrounding regions, through the success of the new plant in Port Pirie, which will be able to treat minerals or material from all over the world.

I also want to say thank you very much to my family, because during that period of time when Pachinko was down, and leading up to the election, my family was there to support me and to go with me. Also, to the community of the Upper Spencer Gulf, no matter where they are and no matter who they voted for, I say thank you very much. Again, I appreciate the contributions made by all the people in this place, and I thank the parliament for the opportunity.

Motion carried.

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