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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-07 Daily Xml
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Santos

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (15:01): My question is to Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister provide an update to the house on the future of Santos?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:01): In short, it is bright. Today, the South Australian government was advised that discussions between Santos and Woodside regarding a potential merger have ceased. This is unmitigated good news for the people of South Australia. I bet the employees of Santos are just as relieved as is the Australian government—indeed, I would say a majority of the government.

Santos stands for South Australia Northern Territory Oil Search. South Australia is the first two letters of that very important company. We sought guarantees for a strong presence, but of course none of that can be guaranteed if Woodside took over Santos—indeed, if anybody took over Santos.

Santos means a lot to this state. It means a lot to us in terms of its corporate presence. It means a lot to us in terms of our state pride. Santos was a company that began exploring in the Cooper Basin looking for oil and gas at the encouragement or former Premier Tom Playford and has grown and grown ever since to now be a legitimate multinational. It has operations across the globe. It has, I think, an excellent reputation. Importantly, its philanthropic works and its commitment to the arts and, of course, sports are very important to people here in South Australia. It is important to have CEs in South Australia, to have the CFOs in South Australia, to have regular board meetings in South Australia. That is why we worked hard to get Oz Minerals here. Unfortunately, they were taken over by BHP, but of course BHP's ambition is more than just Oz Minerals. It is for an expansion of our copper province here in South Australia.

We want Santos to grow, to be prosperous, to be profitable, to continue to operate here in South Australia. Today is a good day for the people of South Australia, and it is a good day for their shareholders. Anecdotally, it is important to note that South Australians are a large portion of Santos's shareholders. Mums and dads put their life savings and their savings into Santos, buying their shares, and that is good. It is to be encouraged, along with Beach Energy, another great South Australian company. There are many South Australian companies we want to protect and look after, whether it is companies like Codan, whether it is companies Beach and Santos. We want to make sure that these companies are nurtured and helped to grow and that we create an environment for more homegrown companies to grow. The oil and gas sector and the mining sector are very quickly becoming a fourth pillar of the South Australian economy. They are growing. The Minister for Trade and Investment yesterday announced a dramatic increase in exports, and mining and energy are a big part of that.

An honourable member: And lentils.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, lentils are very, very important, but remember that we are talking about oil and gas. Pay attention. It is important that we remember that oil and gas play a big part in our economy. More importantly, gas plays a big part in the decarbonisation story.

The work that Santos and Beach are doing for carbon capture and storage could be groundbreaking, not only for this state or this nation but for the world. If we can direct air-capture carbon, or remove carbon and store it in reservoirs where oil and gas were previously held, it can have a dramatic improvement for our planet and, importantly, for these companies. The South Australian government will use every regulatory and legislative tool in its arsenal to protect these companies and keep them here in South Australia where they belong.

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