Lyn Breuer: Glorious day for Whyalla now back from the brink
TO SAY it has been a great relief for the people of Whyalla that GFG Alliance has signed a binding agreement to buy Arrium, is the understatement of the century, says the city’s Mayor Lyn Breuer.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TO SAY it has been a great relief for the people of Whyalla to hear the news that GFG Alliance has signed a binding agreement to buy the steel group Arrium, is the understatement of the century.
For 15 months we have been under a cloud, with much of the city on hold.
It has impacted greatly on community morale, on families, and on individuals.
We are a small community of 22,000 people, with families that have been here for generations, and a very strong multicultural heritage.
Many immigrants from post-WWII and onwards came here from all over the world, and settled into our community, making a new life here.
My family were first here in 1904, when it was called Hummocky Hill, and was established to ship the very rich iron ore out from Iron Knob, 50km away. Like many families, we have had generations of family working for “The Company”.
Whyalla is a steel and mining town, an engineering city, and most of our lives have some connection with the company and most incomes are derived from it, directly or indirectly.
We have had our scares in the past, including when the shipyard closed in 1978, and 1800 workers lost their jobs.
Some years later when the company was spun off from BHP and OneSteel was formed there was a whole new culture change.
We always survived, though we always knew the situation was serious. But this was the one that really kept us awake at night, $4 billion in debt and into administration.
The last 15 months have been the most difficult in our history, and we have been breaking our hearts.
People have not been spending money, morale has been way down, and there has been quite a significant increase in mental health issues through worries and uncertainty about our future.
But we are a very resilient town, I like to say a steel town with steel backbones, and we have held together and got through this with a determined attitude and never-say-die approach. We have now breathed a collective sigh of relief and can start moving forward.
THROUGHOUT the last year we have thought long and hard about our future, and the council, the state Government, other agencies, non-government organisations, business and the federal Government have been looking at how our future will pan out, and making sure we are ready to cope with whatever changes will occur.
Whyalla Council has developed, with significant community involvement, a very comprehensive strategic plan which will help us to move ahead. We will be working with local business, with agencies and with very supportive state and federal governments to ensure we go forward and get back on track.
I am confident that the retail industry, and the real estate market, both of which have suffered greatly in this, will pick up.
We have a number of new companies interested in establishing here, with a keen interest from the renewable power, and sustainable industry sector. We are exploring the potential work opportunities in the submarine and warship projects.
We HAVE excellent tertiary education facilities here and possibilities for research in a whole range of areas, including new engineering technology are being proposed.
GFG Alliance have indicated they have a strong interest in this field, and this augers well for us.
We are also working very closely now with the other Spencer Gulf cities of Port Augusta and Port Pirie through the Spencer Gulf Cities Association and, as we are all quite unique industrial-based cities, we can see a whole new range of possibilities for us working together, including making the best of the expansion of the army’s Cultana Range.
The fog has lifted, Whyalla and our community can now move ahead with confidence.
A big thank you to South Australia for the support you have shown us in the last 15 months.
■ LYN BREUER IS THE MAYOR OF WHYALLA AND FORMER SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT
Reader letters: World War II POWs — we remember them
August 15: Readers have their say on Victory in the Pacific Day and a Melbourne traveller saying you can “basically do whatever you like over here” when it comes to social distancing.
Silly COVID restrictions need to go now
Despite SA’s coronavirus “cluster” passing, we’re still not allowed to stand at the pub or have more than 10 people at home. These restrictions are needlessly hurting businesses and families, writes Caleb Bond.