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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-02-05 Daily Xml
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Hydrogen Power Plant

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:45): My question is again to the Premier. Is the government's hydrogen plant dependent on the ongoing viability of GFG Alliance?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:46): The reason we chose Whyalla quite specifically is because of the Middleback Ranges and the massive magnetite resources. As far as we are concerned, we don't want to see another GMH. We don't want to see conservative politicians standing up, daring people to leave. We want to see steelmaking remain in this country.

The thing about Whyalla that makes Whyalla so unique in this country is it is the last manufacturer of long products. What are they? Structural steel and rail lines. We are a continent nation. We cannot be reliant on the importation of rail line and structural steel. We must maintain that sovereign capability here in this country. That is why we want to put hydrogen facilities in Whyalla. That is exactly why we chose Whyalla, but of course there has been one consistent opponent to that plan. Who is that? The shadow minister who asked the very question. He has been opposing it the whole time.

The SPEAKER: The minister will resume his seat. There is a point of order from the deputy leader.

Mr TEAGUE: Point of order: standing order 98(a). The question is really clear. This is starting to sound like a fireside chat. The answer needs to be given by the minister.

The SPEAKER: Is the minister finished? Okay. The minister is providing the answer, with some context around it. I think it is a subject of great interest to all South Australians, and I think for most of question time it has been pretty well handled by both sides, so we will give the minister a little bit longer with this answer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What we want to see is steelmaking continue. If Mr Gupta is unable to continue steelmaking, we have been through iterations in Whyalla of many owners. We want to see steelmaking continue. That is why we are progressing our hydrogen plans. That is why we ultimately aspire to have a hydrogen industry in this state, whether it is the Port Bonython project, whether it is projects on the Eyre Peninsula at Cape Hardy or whether it is based in Whyalla. We believe that the decarbonisation of the Middleback Ranges through beneficiating our ores and adding value to them here in this country is vital to our economic prosperity and that is the aspiration of the Malinauskas government.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Narungga, I pass on my commiserations. He failed to make The Advertiser's list of the 25 best Yorke Peninsula footballers of the 21st century, but I noticed his brother, Giles, was in there this morning. I thought that if this was in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, you probably would have had the Ellis brothers taking out the top three spots. The member for Narungga.

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