❓ The Minister for Manufacturing outlines the Cook Labor government's 'Made in WA' plan to support the development of a green iron industry, create jobs, and foster value-adding opportunities in WA, focusing on projects like NeoSmelt and Collie Green Steel.
AnsweredQoN 173Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Made in WA plan
173. Dr Jags Krishnan to the Minister for Manufacturing:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to creating new local jobs and local
manufacturing opportunities.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's Made in WA plan is supporting the development of a green iron
industry in WA?
(2) Can the minister advise the house how this
plan will help provide new value-adding opportunities and support local
manufacturing?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
173. Dr Jags Krishnan to the Minister for Manufacturing:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to creating new local jobs and local
manufacturing opportunities.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how this
government's Made in WA plan is supporting the development of a green iron
industry in WA?
(2) Can the minister advise the house how this
plan will help provide new value-adding opportunities and support local
manufacturing?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the
member for Riverton for his question. We all know that the Premier's Made in WA
plan puts industry at the heart of our manufacturing sector and will create
jobs into the future. We are investing as a government. The Cook government is
investing in industries that will thrive in a net zero global economy. We are
looking to the future for our children and their children's jobs. We are
building up new industries, particularly in green iron, green steel and
critical minerals processing, and this is an opportunity on a historic scale.
This is what iron ore and liquefied natural gas was to the Western Australian
economy. This is the next economic transition, and if we are not in control of
it, we will lose out on those opportunities.
The Premier has outlined his
plan to maintain control of those opportunities and make sure that they are
opportunities for Western Australians and their jobs. We will build on the
successes and skills of our resources sector and onshore value-added iron
processing. This will create literally tens of thousands of jobs, particularly
in the Mid West and the Pilbara, and will generate billions of dollars of wages
and royalties, and it will not happen by chance. These are emerging industries.
Governments need to de-risk and support these industries, just as they did with
iron ore, LNG and critical minerals. We need to grow them at scale but also be
practical about how we do it.
The green iron and steel action
plan is about accelerating that development of the globally competitive green
metals industry. It is about communities like Collie, the Pilbara and the Mid
West. Major new projects that are in development are the NeoSmelt project in
Kwinana and Collie Green Steel. That will be an important project to transition
many of those workers who are currently working in coal mining and coal-fired power
stations. That is an incredibly important project. By processing more iron ore
here, we keep billions of dollars of value right here. If we process green
iron, we actually reduce that emissions footprint
hugely. That is the most emissions intensive part of steel. If we can make green
iron here, we actually add to that value chain, and we reduce global
emissions by doing that here and doing it responsibly.
We are taking a clear and
coordinated approach on how we deliver green iron and steel jobs by
prioritising those projects that are transformational. We are supporting
projects through approvals processes and a whole range of other government
processes that are required by both local and state, linking them with grants. We
are investing in them, de-risking and providing offtake agreements. This is
about the government stepping up where it matters. It is about the government
helping those projects to get up. It is about how we actually support them and
nurture them into the transition to become cost effective, full participants of
the energy market, and, front and centre, it is about making sure that Western
Australians and Western Australian businesses are benefiting from that energy transition
and that we are creating real opportunities for Western Australians.
The Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition with the
last question.
member for Riverton for his question. We all know that the Premier's Made in WA
plan puts industry at the heart of our manufacturing sector and will create
jobs into the future. We are investing as a government. The Cook government is
investing in industries that will thrive in a net zero global economy. We are
looking to the future for our children and their children's jobs. We are
building up new industries, particularly in green iron, green steel and
critical minerals processing, and this is an opportunity on a historic scale.
This is what iron ore and liquefied natural gas was to the Western Australian
economy. This is the next economic transition, and if we are not in control of
it, we will lose out on those opportunities.
The Premier has outlined his
plan to maintain control of those opportunities and make sure that they are
opportunities for Western Australians and their jobs. We will build on the
successes and skills of our resources sector and onshore value-added iron
processing. This will create literally tens of thousands of jobs, particularly
in the Mid West and the Pilbara, and will generate billions of dollars of wages
and royalties, and it will not happen by chance. These are emerging industries.
Governments need to de-risk and support these industries, just as they did with
iron ore, LNG and critical minerals. We need to grow them at scale but also be
practical about how we do it.
The green iron and steel action
plan is about accelerating that development of the globally competitive green
metals industry. It is about communities like Collie, the Pilbara and the Mid
West. Major new projects that are in development are the NeoSmelt project in
Kwinana and Collie Green Steel. That will be an important project to transition
many of those workers who are currently working in coal mining and coal-fired power
stations. That is an incredibly important project. By processing more iron ore
here, we keep billions of dollars of value right here. If we process green
iron, we actually reduce that emissions footprint
hugely. That is the most emissions intensive part of steel. If we can make green
iron here, we actually add to that value chain, and we reduce global
emissions by doing that here and doing it responsibly.
We are taking a clear and
coordinated approach on how we deliver green iron and steel jobs by
prioritising those projects that are transformational. We are supporting
projects through approvals processes and a whole range of other government
processes that are required by both local and state, linking them with grants. We
are investing in them, de-risking and providing offtake agreements. This is
about the government stepping up where it matters. It is about the government
helping those projects to get up. It is about how we actually support them and
nurture them into the transition to become cost effective, full participants of
the energy market, and, front and centre, it is about making sure that Western
Australians and Western Australian businesses are benefiting from that energy transition
and that we are creating real opportunities for Western Australians.
The Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition with the
last question.
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