Hydrogen SA chief Sam Crafter wins new job overseeing Whyalla’s ‘steelworks transformation’

One of the state’s highest paid bureaucrats is now the top dog of “a small team” after the hydrogen jobs plan was put on ice.

Whyalla steelworks. Picture: Dean Martin

SA’s highly paid Hydrogen SA office chief has won a significant new job as boss of “a small team” overseeing Whyalla steelworks’ transformation.

Sam Crafter, one of the state’s top paid bureaucrats on almost $600,000, was awarded the “significant role” after his Hydrogen Power SA office and the Northern Water Delivery office were swallowed up by another department.

A government spokesperson confirmed Mr Crafter would be employed on the same terms and conditions as his existing appointment.

Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia was scathing over the announcement claiming “the government wasted over $100m of taxpayer money” on its failed flagship hydrogen jobs plan.

The plan was shelved and its $593m funding switched to a bailout of Whyalla steelworks and mine after the state government pushed its former owner into administration earlier this year.

“That this government has now appointed Sam Crafter to lead the Whyalla Steelworks Industrial Transformation is farcical,” Mr Tarzia said.

“This is a man who has been paid $600,000 a year to oversee a now mothballed project.”

Sam Crafter is the former Office of Hydrogen Power SA chief executive that is now being absorbed by the state’s mining department. Picture: Matt Turner.

The Advertiser reported in February that the number of staff in the Hydrogen SA office opened in 2022 had grown to 55, and a government spokesperson at the time said “we anticipate staff costs of around $9m” this financial year.

State Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced Mr Crafter’s new role in parliament on Thursday saying “the path to green steel is even closer than it’s ever been before”.

He said Whyalla steelworks and mine were “the focus of the single biggest economic support and stimulus package in South Australian history”, with its $2.4bn taxpayer-funded bailout.

Mr Koutsantonis said the hydrogen power office had been “heavily involved in fostering industry development” through hydrogen opportunities in the region.

“This goes beyond the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, a project which the government recently deferred pending discussions with the Whyalla steelworks’ next owners as to how best the state can assist them to realise the vital transition to green iron and steel,” he said.

Work being undertaken by the northern water delivery office to build a desalination plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf would now be taken over by the Energy and Mining Department and led by chief executive Paul Martyn.

A decision about whether the northern water project would go ahead was expected within the next year, Mr Koutsantonis said.

Premier Peter Malinauskas and Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis at a meeting with steel workers in Whyalla earlier this year. Picture: Tim Joy

The government previously was questioned about the promised $593m for the bailout with the Opposition claiming significant funds were already spent, including on equipment for the now mothballed hydrogen plant.

“We expect the vast majority of capital already expended will be recouped when we agree terms with an alternative operator for the four 50MW turbines ordered for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, with the stipulation that they be operated in SA to provide additional generation capacity,” Mr Koutsantonis said.