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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-26 Daily Xml
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Whyalla Steelworks

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister update the house on recent announcements about re-industrialising the Upper Spencer Gulf?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:49): Yes, Whyalla is not wiped out. It is not wiped out. In fact, Whyalla has a bright—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sing it? No. No, I won't. I won't be singing it. The member for Giles has been a great custodian of the pressure he has applied to state and federal governments to remember that there is an industrial heart in South Australia. That industrial heart at its centre is Whyalla. Whyalla is an important part of the nation's industrial heartbeat. It is the last place in the country where we manufacture rail line. As a country, that strategic capability must be preserved.

There have been many calls that Whyalla is to be wiped out because of decarbonisation or because of other policies, yet that town has stuck with the plan. That town has stuck by the transition to decarbonise. That town has worked hard to maintain the steelworks, to maintain their heritage. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of accompanying our Prime Minister and the Premier to the Whyalla Steelworks, where we officiated over the closure of the coke ovens. That was a significant time line in Whyalla's history.

Whyalla has been built on the back of the first iron ore exports out of this country and, of course, out of making structured steel in those coke ovens. Their closure on 15 September does bring the close to an era. It represents the evolution of green iron and steel technologies that will allow South Australia and this country to harness the strategic competitiveness of our abundant and world-class renewable and important magnetite resources.

It is important to remember that Australia's iron and steel industries were born here in South Australia. We are their custodians. Our state was the first jurisdiction to mine iron ore and we were one of the first to produce steel. The steel industry supports over 10,000 jobs in South Australia and 100,000 nationally, and generates $29 billion in revenue. Globally, the demand for steel is not going anywhere. I expect it will remain a key building block in our homes, at our workplaces and in our cars. There is no substitute for steel.

When the coke ovens reached the end of their useful life, GFG was presented with a choice: reinvest in old technology or retool for a green re-industrialisation. The closure is the first step in their plan to expand mining operations for South Australia's world-class magnetite deposits and build new infrastructure that supports decarbonised industrial processes, processes that could substitute coke and coal with natural gas, renewable energy and hydrogen.

I make very clear to the house that it is a policy of the South Australian government that the steelworks and the mines remain integrated. There will be no separation of the steelworks and those mines. They are linked, they are symbiotic, and this government will not engage in any policy that decouples the iron ore mines from the steelworks. They are linked; they are one. Anyone can export iron ore.

I am genuinely excited for what stands to be next for the region. Alas, I have run out of time to go into detail, but I think the member for Giles has had a satisfactory explanation into this end of an era. I look forward to the next beginning of this new era.

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