Patrick Goldsmith, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Premier Peter Malinauskas has earmarked Upper Spencer Gulf as the future of the state’s potential prosperity.

Speaking at a public forum in Port Pirie on Tuesday, February 27, Mr Malinauskas outlined his government’s plan to invest in green energy, including making the most of abundant solar, wind, copper and magnetite iron ore resources.

Also rolled into the broader project is the promise of jobs and training at the Port Augusta Technical College, currently under construction, and the Northern Water Project, including 600 kilometres of pipeline from Eyre Peninsula to Olympic Dam.

The Premier and several of his key ministers spent four days travelling between Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie to visit key industry stakeholders and talk to locals about the project.

Mr Malinauskas said there is a unique set of conditions favourable to the state unlike anything seen post World War II.

“This is a big deal; we haven’t had an exercise like this out of metropolitan Adelaide ever before,” he said.

“This is an amazing place, and often when you travel around to the Upper Spencer Gulf cities, you know when you’re in Port Pirie, you know when you’re in Port Augusta, and you know when you’re in Whyalla because there is an identity to each town.

“Don’t think about this in the context of Port Pirie, think about it in the context of a region which has extraordinary power at its disposal.

“This isn’t even about what it can do for the Upper Spencer Gulf, it’s about what it can do for the state.”

Of all the energy the state produced in 2007, only one per cent was renewable; in 2024 it is 74 per cent, Mr Malinauskas said.

While in the region, the government announced it is striving to reach 100 per cent renewable by 2027.

“Other parts of the world have got sun, other parts have wind, but what makes the Upper Spencer Gulf unique is that we have high concentrations of both at the same time,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“The other thing we’ve got is copper, a lot of it north of Port Pirie, as well as magnetite iron ore.

“We don’t just have what the world wants, we’ve got it all in the same place at the same time.

“Each of these things is absolutely essential when it comes to the decarbonisation of global industry.”

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 5 March 2024.