The South Australian premier says it would be a “national disaster” if Whyalla steelworks closed to leave Australia’s construction industry dependent on imports.
“It simply cannot be allowed to happen,” Peter Malinauskas told reporters on Tuesday. “What workers at the Whyalla steelworks should have confidence in is that I do not believe this nation wants to see steel making capacity lost.”
The struggling steelworks, bought seven years ago by British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, has been beset by problems due to a series of shutdowns of its coal-fired blast furnace, which lies at the heart of the steelmaking process. Jobs have been lost and promises to invest in the decarbonisation of the operations remain unfulfilled.
Whyalla’s mining and steel operations represent the economic foundation of a city relied on by numerous workers and other businesses, from contractors to cafes.
On Sunday, it was reported that 40 contract workers supplying waste management services at the operation had been made redundant.
Malinauskas was asked on Tuesday if there would be government assistance for those that had lost their jobs. He did not answer the question directly, instead responding that the message for the federal government and the nation was that “this country can’t afford to have the Whyalla steelworks fall over.”
“Everything we build, every high-rise tower, every bridge, every structure with reinforced concrete, it has within it rebar steel. The only place in this country that’s capable of producing the key ingredients for rebar, domestically, is the Whyalla steelworks,” he said.
“We haven’t seen things go as well as we would have liked over the last month.
“There has been signs of positive progress. But it feels a bit like two steps forward, one step back.”
The GFG-owned Whyalla operation is one of two major integrated steel projects in Australia, alongside the larger BlueScope operations in Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
A GFG Alliance spokesperson said: “We are on track for a resumption of steelmaking soon. We remain committed to the long term future in Whyalla and working through the current market downturn impacting the global metals and mining industry.”
Malinauskas said the situation was “tricky” and that the state government would continue to monitor what was unfolding and act where it can.
“I would rather control the situation than allow it to be controlled for us. But this isn’t a government owned enterprise. It’s a privately owned enterprise,” he said.
“There would be no point in making the government act too rashly, unless we were very clear about the consequences of our actions.
“Apart from the usual issues that a government is focused on at this time of the year, this is probably the biggest thing on my mind at the moment.”
