Press conference, Whyalla

PHILL STONE (MAYOR, WHYALLA COUNCIL): Well, perhaps I can just thank everybody for being here. Today is a fantastic day. The start of what I would like to think is quite a few good announcements coming up, but we are able to move forward thanks to the Minister being here with a special announcement that our community is hanging out for. Minister. 

CATHERINE KING: Well, thanks, it’s lovely to be here with you, Mayor Stone. It’s terrific– or Phill, I have to call you. 

PHILL STONE: Yes, Phill.

CATHERINE KING: To really announce– we’re announcing today South Australia’s successful Growing Regions Round 2 projects. And here, of course, in Whyalla, we’re announcing $3.14 million for the play and splash park at the foreshore. 

What I do want to say is congratulations to the council staff and councillors for working closely with your community on this project. These grants are very competitive, and you’ve got this on absolutely and utterly your merits. I know that place is really important for people. And as towns change what we want to do in our recreation time changes as well. Often the council facilities have not been able to keep up to date, and it’s really hard to get and attract the sort of money needed to do these big scale projects. 

So, we’re really delighted, as the Albanese Labor Government, to partner with councils as a really trusted delivery partner, to really make sure we’re improving the places that people live. I know this is just one part of the foreshore redevelopment overall, but it is really the cornerstone of it, providing that first possibility of having a meeting space, a gathering space for families, improving accessibility, making sure you can actually use this amazing foreshore. Whether it’s wind, hopefully not hail, but certainly when the sun is shining as well. So delighted to make that announcement, alongside over $11 million that were announcing under Round 2, which of course builds here in this local community on our recent announcement around the Whyalla Airport. Investing some $16.3 million, knowing that you are going to need a longer and stronger runway for all of the development that is to come here in this community. 

So, Mayor Stone, it’s lovely to be here to make that announcement. And as I said, congratulations to the local community for the work and effort that you’ve put in to get this project to this point. 

PHILL STONE: Thank you very much, Minister. And do I say, you are experiencing just one of our 301 days of beautiful sunshine here in Whyalla. Welcome. 

CATHERINE KING: Beautiful. Happy to take some questions.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Jack, do you want to start? 

JOURNALIST: Yeah. So, Funding for this project has sort of been in the works for quite a while. It was not approved in May of last year. Has anything changed for the Federal Government to allow it to come to fruition this time?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. Well, what happens with these projects is we have a– you know, I’ve really cleaned up the grants process because what we saw previously, frankly, were colour coded spreadsheets. And you may have not always seen projects of the most merit getting up. What we’ve done now is there’s a panel that assesses the first applic– sorry, so the Business Grant Hub assesses applications, and this initially determines whether they’re eligible or not eligible. I then have a panel of politicians from National Party, Liberal Party, Labor Party, independents having a look at those applications and making a recommendation to my department about how the merit rankings should be done. And then my department will then make recommendations to me. And that’s what’s happened, and I’ve gone down the list. 

On this occasion, I think what’s happened is the council has listened. They weren’t successful in that first application. Listened, got feedback from the Grants Hub about what they could do to strengthen their application. And that’s what they’ve done. 

JOURNALIST: This is probably more for Phill. Will council be targeting local contractors and businesses to take up the works for the development project? 

PHILL STONE: They will certainly have the opportunity. Whatever works fall within the capabilities of our locals. We keep saying this: we will always favour local contractors. If they can come up with the goods, they come up with the price, and we can all move forward. And this will certainly be taken into account. No question about that at all. 

CATHERINE KING: And I think you’ve estimated around 42 people will be employed in the construction of this project. And I always like to hear that as many locals as possible get those jobs, but they’ve got tender processes they’ll have to go through. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: That’s it from me. 

CATHERINE KING: Yep. ABC?

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Dan. You’re up.

JOURNALIST: Hello? Yes. Sorry, thanks so much for having me via the phone. One for Phill first. Is this something that– sorry, this specific splash and play plaza, is this something that the community have been yearning for? 

PHILL STONE: Yes. It was one of the features in the original master plan put together by the community. Very much wanted a focus on water activities, sport. We always told the community it would take time. We would need extra funding to top up what council could provide. This funding now allows us to proceed. But the water feature was what the community wanted, and they’re now going to be able to get it. 

JOURNALIST: Fantastic. Thanks very much Phill. Just a couple for the Minister. The question for you, Minister, you’re the Minister for Regional Development. How much is Whyalla on your radar in terms of regional cities [Indistinct]?

CATHERINE KING: Well, certainly the council has made sure Whyalla is on my radar. I think they were one of the first council groups to reach out to me when I became a new minister almost two and a half years ago now, so that is part of the job of council. We have lots and lots of local governments come to Canberra regularly, contact my office and talk about their projects. All regions are on my radar. Whyalla is incredibly important, not just to the state of South Australia but, obviously, in terms of the nation as a whole. The steel you produce here goes into many of my infrastructure projects that are right the way around the country, incredibly important for the entire community.

But I also care deeply. I live in a regional town myself and it’s got a long and deep history. I really love regional communities. I want to see them thrive. I want to see– they’re changing all the time; their economies are changing all the time. And part of my role as Regional Development Minister is trying to help make sure that they continue to become great places for people to live, to grow, to raise their families, as well as providing opportunities for tourism and bringing more money into the economy from other sources.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you did touch on it but, obviously, Whyalla’s industries kind of hinges on the steelworks. You guys have made a commitment of $63 million for a new green steel production system in Whyalla. Can you tell us how much of that you have already delivered? And what thresholds are we waiting to see the rest of the $63 million going to GFG?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. Look, that will be questions for Minister Ed Husic, the Industry Minister. But the commitment that we have made is that we want to see the steelworks continue. We want to see it thrive. We know how important it is as I said, not just for South Australia but for the entire country. We know there are challenges as we head to net zero, in steel in particular – how we produce steel, how we make sure we reduce the energy intensity, the emissions intensity from a whole range of manufacturing, and steel is a really important component of that. 

So, the questions in terms of the grant and thresholds really are for Minister Husic. But I know from the Albanese Labor Government’s point of view, we treat this very seriously. We want to make sure this is successful, and we’ll continue to work with council and our partners in the South Australian Labor Government to deliver for Whyalla.

JOURNALIST: I appreciate that. You have mentioned this is Minister Husic’s portfolio but, within Cabinet, how concerned is the Cabinet and the government about the situation at the steelworks at the moment and GFG’s ownership of that?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. Well, obviously the commitment we’ve made is to that $63 million and we will continue to work very closely with the Malinauskas Labor Government. As the steelworks continue and the future of the steelworks continues we’ll continue talking to the South Australian Government about those matters.

JOURNALIST: No worries. Thanks very much, Minister. Appreciate your time.

CATHERINE KING: You are most welcome.

[Unrelated content – casual conversation]

PHILL STONE: Look, I just want to emphasise, I see today, as a result of a lot of hard work and negotiation, collaboration, sitting down, talking, Federal Government and particularly the funding we’ve already got for the airport, today’s announcement, other announcements that might just be around the corner, they’ve resulted through collaboration, through three parties sitting down, working together. And while we do that we can do nothing but succeed. And that is the crux. 

There are some people that think we should go in, thumping on tables. While I’m Mayor that’s not my style and it’s not my team’s style. And I think you see the results of a whole team effort and we thank you so much for giving us this kick-start to get this underway. The community will certainly be waiting for that news. They’ll want us to start probably by yesterday. 

CATHERINE KING: [Laughs] I’m sure they do.

PHILL STONE: I will now say, why have–

CATHERINE KING: [Interrupts] Where is it? 

PHILL STONE: Yes. A week’s gone by, why haven’t you started? Obviously, there’s still a lot of work now behind the scenes, but you’ve really given us a good start. And while we continue to collaborate, work with both governments, we can’t do anything but succeed. And I thank you again very much for what you’ve done.

CATHERINE KING: You’re most welcome. Thanks, everybody.

[Applause]

[Unrelated content – casual conversation]

CATHERINE KING: Sorry, Dan*.

JOURNALIST: Sorry, one more very quick question. I’m told the Premier’s heading up to Whyalla tomorrow. Do you have any plans to meet with him or anyone from the State Government tomorrow?

CATHERINE KING: I think there will be someone else here with the Premier, as I understand it not from the Federal Government. But I’m heading to Katherine straight after this.

JOURNALIST: No worries. Enjoy the trip.

CATHERINE KING: Thank you.