The federal government is insisting a $2.4 billion dollar package to save the failing Whyalla Steelworks site in South Australia is an ‘investment in the nation’.
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00:00The government says it's made this move to support steelmaking in this country.
00:06It's a $2.4 billion package designed to provide immediate short-term and long-term support.
00:13But some have claimed that it's a bailout for GFG Alliance, which has seen ongoing financial
00:18struggles, which saw the state government force it into administration.
00:22Now some experts have also warned against the use of taxpayer money, saying that it
00:26should be reconsidered, while a major manufacturing group has also described this as pseudo-nationalisation.
00:32These are claims that the state and federal government have both hit back against, saying
00:36that this isn't a bailout for GFG, but is rather an investment for steelmaking in this
00:42country.
00:43For South Australians though, around nearly $600 million of this package comes from what
00:48was a proposed hydrogen power project.
00:51It was something that was announced by the now-premier Peter Malinowskis in opposition in 2021.
00:57He said at the time that it would bring cheaper electricity, lower carbon emissions and also
01:03more jobs too, and that it would be done by 2025.
01:06The state government last year entered into an agreement with GFG Alliance that that hydrogen
01:11would be used to create green iron and green steel here, but that project has now been
01:17effectively shelved as we've seen these ongoing challenges.
01:21It's important to note too that of this package, a significant amount of it is set aside for
01:26new infrastructure at the steelworks for when the new owners take over.
01:30The premier saying he wants to sit down with them, work with those new owners to spend
01:34this $600 million of state government capital, and of course that federal funding too, to
01:40invest in the transformation of the steelworks and into its future as well.