Whyalla wanted to believe in Sanjeev Gupta, but now feel let down

Whyalla wanted to believe in Sanjeev Gupta and his glittering promises, but its residents now feel let down and worried as faith in the steel tycoon ebbs away.

Andrew Miller, who owns and runs the toy shop, Tonz a Toys, has endured the worst Christmas period in the five years he has been in Whyalla. Picture: Dean Martin

Finally, the patience of the people of Whyalla in the promises of British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta appears to have been exhausted.

For a long time, Mr Gupta was given the benefit of the doubt. That perhaps he could fulfil those bold promises made in December 2018, flanked by then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, of a sparkling new future for the Spencer Gulf city.

It was a vision that attracted people such as toy shop owner Andrew Miller.

Mr Miller saw the optimism generated that day by Mr Gupta as he talked up the city’s population quadrupling to 80,000 of a future of green steel and renewable energy, and sold up his Alice Springs toy shop and moved his family to Whyalla two months later.

“It was one of those well-known TV shows and it was all about Gupta and how he was going to change the town and grow the town,’’ Mr Miller said in his Tonz-A-Toys store on Whyalla’s Norrie Avenue.

“To me, it was optimism, it was a bit of hope, to be honest and the sea change, red dirt for water,’’ he said.

But now it’s a battle to keep going. With job losses in Whyalla, contractors not being paid on time, amid an environment of rising cost-of-living, selling toys has never been tougher. Even at Christmas.

“I think people, even the ones that have money are hanging on to it, they’re just not spending,’’ he said.

December sales were down 24 per cent on the year before. Mr Miller said he wouldn’t go to the annual toy fair in Melbourne this year because he couldn’t afford it.

The discontent with Mr Gupta and his GFG organisation is everywhere in Whyalla. But such is the power and hold the businessman has over the city, few are prepared to speak on the record.

Whyalla Steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta at Whyalla Airport. Picture: Dylan Coker

So even contractors owed hundreds of thousands of dollars are reticent to speak out. They still cling onto some hope they will eventually be paid. But they talk about how tough life has become for them. That bills that would be paid in 30 day terms have moved to 90 days and more. That they have had to let workers go or not replace them because of the financial crunch.

A favourite phrase in Whyalla is now ‘stop credit’. It is the term used by contractors who are now refusing to work for GFG. Several contractors told The Advertiser they have unpaid bills dating back to August and September last year.

Some contractors who have been involved in the maintenance of the steel works for decades wonder who is doing those jobs now and express concern that the already aged facility is even more run down. And that last year’s mistake that saw the vital blast furnace shut down, halting steel making for four months until January was caused by cost-cutting.

Roger Jordan is one contractor not afraid to speak out. Mr Jordan, the proprietor or SkyVision which sells two-way radios, admits he has little to lose as his debt is only a few thousand dollars.

He wants the government to step in and do more but said the city is “tired’’ of the circus.

“I hope something positive happens at the steel works, you know, we’ve given, we’ve given GFG the benefit of the doubt up until now, but it’s wearing a bit thin,’’ he said. “We’ve not heard anything really official from local government, from state government or federal government as to where we stand. And we’ve heard very little or nothing from the steel works themselves, so we’re very much in the dark.’’

Local MP Eddie Hughes said the state government understood the importance of steelmaking to Whyalla.

“We will not let an important part of our sovereign manufacturing go to the wall,’’ he said.

A local tradie who worked for a sub-contractor at one of GFG’s mines is owed $25,000 because his employer is still waiting to be paid.

“They haven’t paid me for that yet, so that’s a couple of months. It makes things difficult when I still have to pay all my bills and pay for my family.’’

A spokesperson for GFG said a recently negotiated capital injection of $150 million would help company cash flow and said the company was “resolute in its commitment to Whyalla and the transition to green iron and steel’’.

But there is much discussion in Whyalla about how much longer GFG will continue.

The tradie said a quick end would be better than allowing it all to drag out further.

“No one in the town has any faith in him, he promised everything for years and years when he first come in and nothing’s really eventuated.’’