South Australia's premier pledges to make use of his government's surging political capital to rebuild the state's industrial base.
In his first "state of the state" address, Labor leader Peter Malinauskas on Wednesday outlined plans to fast track a multibillion dollar desalination plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf.
It will supply water for a proposed nearby gigawatt green hydrogen plant, and for copper-producer BHP's mines in the far north of the state. Both will provide thousands of jobs and billions in royalties over the next two decades.
He said the plan was "re-industrialisation through de-carbonisation", while boasting the state already produced 70 per cent of its electricity through green energy.
The environmental impact statement alone for the desal plant is expected to cost $200m, and is due midway through 2024.
Two sites are being considered but there are environmental concerns, particularly over cuttlefish breeding grounds. New legislation will be introduced to acquire the land.
"To be able to produce gigawatt-scale hydrogen production in South Australia, which we have an opportunity to do, we need a lot more water," Mr Malinauskas said.
"To be able to process and mine a lot more copper in South Australia, we need a lot more water.
"But there is no source of that naturally in the gulf, which is why we need to build a massive desalinisation plant."
The premier did issue a cautionary note, saying BHP will also have to commit to the project.
In a dig at the mining giant, he said it had let South Australian governments down in the past, and his government would be ensuring it did not happen on his watch.
"I expect them to contribute and to do it substantially," he said.
"And I don't want to muck around.
"BHP has left other premiers at the altar before.
"We're not going to make that mistake. We want to work collaboratively with them - absolutely - but it's going be in a deliberate process, step by step."
A crowd of 750 people had gathered for the premier's state-of-the-state address, hosted by think tank, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
This was his first after coming to power in March 2022, and he took the moment to talk up what he described as the state's almost unprecedented prosperity, and to launch a new economic statement laying a path into the future.
Key to that is the $368 billion AUKUS agreement to build a fleet of nuclear submarines at Osborne.
That alone will need thousands of workers, and the state government aims to provide them from the bottom up.
Pre-school will be introduced for three-year-olds, while new TAFE colleges are being built.
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia will also merge to create the nation's largest tertiary institution, to provide the skilled workers required.
The state is building 1100 low-cost homes to house the influx of workers.
"So, what keeps me awake at night about the AUKUS program? It is workforce development," he said.
"We've got an extraordinary amount that we have to do. We've got to move quickly."
