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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-30 Daily Xml
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Hydrogen Initiative

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (15:43): I rise today to talk about the fantastic hydrogen initiative announced by Labor, which is in stark contrast to the proposed basketball stadium in the central business district in Adelaide.

I find it very strange indeed that, in response to a question in the upper house during the last sitting week, the Treasurer indicated that, apart from the $50 million on the table—courtesy of the previous Labor government—in relation to the future of the steelworks, the cupboard was now bare when it came to Whyalla and support for the steelworks. I thought that was a strange comment, and then to hear a week later, or a little longer, the announcement that $700 million was available for a basketball stadium in the centre of Adelaide—money that could be spent in the regions where it is needed—was just absolutely amazing.

Any expenditure by government on the steelworks or the overall entity in Whyalla will be contingent upon what happens over the coming weeks and months. We all know that the financial arrangements being entered into between Greensill and GFG are complex, layered and involve tax havens. We have some people overseas talking about Greensill and saying it could take years to sort out this mess, but I am sure when it comes to GFG's part in this, that there will be a quicker outcome. It is just not on for the Treasurer to say, 'There is no more money available.' We have to see what is going to happen and it will be contingent on what will happen.

I look at the previous Labor government's commitment to Nyrstar: it was not $50 million; it was nearly $300 million worth of underwriting. Labor was not prepared to walk away from that plant and see it close and have a devastating impact on the community of Port Pirie and, indeed, the loss of yet more value-adding here in Australia.

I know full well that there are literally hundreds of millions of tonnes of magnetite on the doorstep of Whyalla with the infrastructure in place. We know for a fact that we have massive energy resources in our state, especially in the area around Whyalla when it comes to renewables. The future of steel should be assured in this state and in this nation, given that it is the only integrated steelworks in the nation that produces structural steel and rail. I would like to see a more up-front commitment—and that could take a whole range of shapes depending upon what happens—from the current state government and indeed the national government.

I looked at the $700 million basketball stadium and I compared it to the proposal around hydrogen if Labor is elected—a 250-megawatt electrolyser, a 200-megawatt power plant, plus a storage facility. That is real commitment to a hydrogen future in our nation and in our state. As the local member, I would argue that a project of that nature would complement what H2U are proposing to do in Whyalla.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have come on board, investing in H2U with Worley, or what used to be WorleyParsons, carrying out the up-front design work for the proposal in Whyalla. Initially, that will be a demonstrator project that will put in place a 75-megawatt electrolyser in Whyalla plus storage, with the intention of using ammonia domestically, but the intent is to go up to 800,000 tonnes of green ammonia for export.

We have a fantastic opportunity here and time is running out. I could talk about hydrogen and the steel industry; it is really amazing to watch what the Swedes are doing. By 2026, they intend to be producing 1.3 million tonnes of fossil-free steel in Sweden, leading up to 2.7 million tonnes by 2030. We should have a vision in this state. We should have a vision that focuses on Whyalla and what can be done.

Time expired.

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