Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm here to tell a concerning story from Whyalla at the moment. The residents are in consternation. There is an outage at the blast furnace at GFG Alliance's steelworks. I have been contacted by businesses that are concerned, because they were burnt by the collapse of Arrium some seven years ago and lost money. I've sought and received a briefing from GFG Alliance. They assured me they are committed to restarting the furnace as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of the month, and getting it back into full production. They are, I have to say, in the best position to fix their furnace. They are experts in the field. Those others who have been offering advice to them probably will heed the fact that there is probably no better advice around than they can give themselves. However, there was an announcement from GFG today that the startup date for their replacement electric arc furnace has been pushed back by two years. That will unsettle the community. It absolutely underlines the importance of getting the current furnace back online.

For the record, Australia produces 5.7 million tonnes of steel a year. Whyalla produces 1.2 million tonnes, or about 20 per cent of Australia's output. We import 2½ million tonnes of steel a year. So we are, while not self-sufficient, largely self-sufficient. The important point here is that Whyalla is the only steel platform in Australia that produces billet and heavy long products. By 'heavy long products', I mean structural steel—huge beams for bridges, multistorey buildings, stadiums, new docks, high-grade rail lines, skyscrapers. Whatever it is you want to build that's made of solid steel, that steel comes out of Whyalla.

COVID and regional instability have, if nothing else, highlighted the absolute importance of us in Australia retaining sovereign capacity in a number of important areas, and steel is one of those. That is where Whyalla is essential to Australia's future. The population of Whyalla is 22,000. Its workforce is 8½ thousand, 5½ thousand of them permanent. Steelworkers make up 1,100 of that number, and with a multiplier effect of, say, 2½ or three to one, you can see how this industry is essential to the city. But it is not only essential to the city; it is much more than that: the Whyalla steelworks are essential to Australia's future. They must not only survive but thrive. We shouldn't kid ourselves that making anything in Australia, let alone steel, is easy at the moment. We have rampant electricity and gas prices. We have rising labour costs. We have the safeguard mechanism for major industries like steelmaking. We have increasing demand for employers to fund non-work-related benefits. Most of these imposts are driven by government policy, it must be said.

The Treasurer talks about our rosy manufacturing future. Green steel in Whyalla is part of the story the Treasurer tells us about. But this is today's story, and today's story is of the here and now. Just so we know in this place: if traditional steel does not continue in Whyalla, then there will never be any hope of green steel getting out of the blocks. That's how important it is that this smelter be brought back online. I'm not suggesting that GFG Alliance will not bring it back online or that it will be beyond them, and I'm also not saying that governments should rush in and do something precipitously, but let me tell the chamber and the Australian people and the people of Whyalla that governments at every level need to be paying very close attention to what is going on in Whyalla at the moment with the steelworks. We need to keep our eye on the ball. I see the Assistant Treasurer at the desk nodding in agreement. He understands the steel industry. So it is important, and I'm here to tell the people of Whyalla that we here in Canberra will be keeping our eye on the ball.

There is a lot of the budget that I don't like, but I am heartened by the announcement within it that there is $100 million to upgrade the rail from Tarcoola heading towards Kalgoorlie from 47 kilograms per metre to 60 kilograms. It won't be enough to do the whole job but it will do a substantial amount. AUSTRAC have always brought their rail out of Whyalla.