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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-02-05 Daily Xml
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Gupta, Mr S.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:40): My question is again to the Premier. Was Sanjeev Gupta consulted before Labor's announcement of its hydrogen power plant in 2021 and, if so, what commitments did he make at the time? With your leave, sir, and that the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: The energy minister said on ABC radio on Monday, 'Mr Sanjeev Gupta is pretty much at the centre of our hydrogen ambitions because our hydrogen ambitions are based on the transition of using coke and coal to make iron and steel.'

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:41): Well, (1) we don't need to seek Mr Gupta's permission for anything and (2)—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes. We made our public announcements in 2021 about our plan. Ultimately, we believe that the staging for decarbonisation of iron to becoming green, go through two steps. The first is natural gas, which has considerable savings on carbon emissions for the production of iron and steel, and then ultimately to green hydrogen to make green iron and green steel.

Members opposite might recall that Mr Gupta had announced in 2021 or 2022 that he was planning a 20 megawatt demonstration hydrogen facility himself for his plant because, like BlueScope, like almost every major steel manufacturer around the world, like the trial being conducted right now in Western Australia for hematite, every major steelmaker in the world is looking to decarbonise their products. Despite what members say about hydrogen, the truth is there are two key components to decarbonising steel: the availability and cost of natural gas, for which members opposite have done us no good favours at all, and the second is hydrogen, which of course they oppose as well.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Just to be clear about this, the first basin that produced gas in this state was the Otway Basin. The second largest basin in this state is the Otway Basin. It is gas rich. Who in this chamber voted to stop the modern day practice to—

The SPEAKER: Minister, there's a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Members opposite, including you.

Mr TEAGUE: Standing order 98(a): the minister is debating, including sources of energy. The question was: was Sanjeev Gupta consulted in 2021 and, if so, what commitments did he make? It's a straightforward question and it should be answered.

The SPEAKER: I think the minister has been answering the question, but he has been copping a lot of interjections from the people behind you, who continue to interject while you're actually making your point of order. So I think if there's silence on my left while a minister is trying to answer the question then we will probably get a better quality answer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: While in opposition, we did meet with Mr Gupta and GFG and discussed our plans, but our plans and the plans of Mr Gupta, while aligned in terms of the aspiration to decarbonise the steelmaking facilities in Whyalla—members opposite might also have seen, again, what the government has been doing over the last 12 months through our expression of interest process to see who else is available to progress green iron.

The truth about the Middleback Ranges and the magnetite deposits that are there, according to manufacturers of direct iron reduction facilities like Danieli that have done their own independent studies, is that there is sufficient capacity, if you have the appropriate levels of gas and hydrogen, to do about 15 million tonnes of green iron per year out of the Middleback Ranges, which is a remarkable volume.

The aspirations of GFG were 2½ million tonnes per annum, then a million tonnes per annum, then an electric arc furnace, then a refurbishment. We have seen plan after plan. What the government is looking for is a partner. We don't have that in Mr Gupta and GFG. What we are doing is looking through our expressions of interest of other parties that want to have access to the Middleback Ranges to those magnetite resources to decarbonise this product. What are the first things they ask for? They ask for more gas and they ask for hydrogen—things members opposite oppose. So when you hear the crocodile tears about Whyalla and steelmaking, just remember they opposed the key ingredients that you require to do the very things that everyone is asking for.

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