This Month
YouTube exemption exposes teen social media ban as a sham
The government’s preferential treatment of YouTube undermines the purpose of its under-16s social media ban, and is unfair to the other tech industry players.
Labor picks city to host climate summit, making it an election issue
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the COP31 summit will provide an economic boost to Adelaide that would be denied under a Coalition government.
BlueScope finds $180 million repair bill for Whyalla steelworks
While parties have begun circling the plant, run by businessman Sanjeev Gupta until February, administrators have been warned upgrades are urgently needed.
Sanjeev Gupta refuses to hand over control of Whyalla port
KordaMentha has taken the British industrialist to court, claiming he refuses to hand it control of the town’s port, jeopardising plans to find a new owner.
PM makes first Victorian campaign stop, but Allan is nowhere to be seen
There are four Labor premiers in Australia. Albanese is happy to stand alongside three of them.
Labor’s not so secret weapon to win SA comes with limitations
Anthony Albanese has picked up the playbook of popular South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, hoping that health funding will secure victory over Peter Dutton.
March
Whyalla steelworks in $60m emergency spend to secure coal supply
The steelworks’ administrators have secured coking coal from BlueScope, China and Indonesia to keep making steel after it was left with only three days’ supply.
Whyalla steelworks halted, millions in capex urgently needed
“Because of the underinvestment, inadequate maintenance and servicing of critical infrastructure, the steelworks are in a state of disrepair,” says KordaMentha.
Gupta’s InfraBuild sinks to $81m half-year loss as debts balloon
Documents circulated to lenders show the company, which runs furnaces in Sydney and Melbourne, bought $140 million in steel from the collapsed Whyalla plant.
Whyalla’s administrators say steelworks was ‘hard-wired’ for losses
The South Australian government expects KordaMentha to run the plant until mid-2026, after the mill was seized from British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta.
This three-point plan can restore respect for taxpayers’ money
The three major announcements by the two major parties so far this election year perfectly encapsulate everything that is wrong with Australian politics
February
Sanjeev Gupta’s largest creditor leads an Insta-rich life
NRW Holdings has been revealed as Whyalla’s biggest creditor. The company’s CEO has been globetrotting while the Gupta debts hit home.
December phone call led to Whyalla steelworks bust
A call to administrator Mark Mentha two days before Christmas culminated in the dramatic seizure of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel plant two months later.
Whyalla steelworks fallout trips up $1.5b mining contractor
NRW Holdings must hastily redo its half-year result because its Golding business is owed up to $120 million in the collapse of part of Sanjeev Gupta’s empire.
Gupta’s ‘ringfenced’ InfraBuild bought $430m of Whyalla steel
KordaMentha will scrutinise the sizeable related-party transactions in the administration of the stricken steelworks.
Why Albanese is going for broke at Whyalla
The prime minister is intent on saving jobs and the South Australian steel industry with a joint government bailout of $2.4 billion. But his hopes of a green steel future are much more tenuous.
KordaMentha gets second bite of the Whyalla apple
Mark Mentha and his colleague Sebastian Hams return to the steelworks town after both did the due diligence on Sanjeev Gupta.
Australia backs Zelensky after Trump attack
Richard Marles says Volodymyr Zelensky is not dictator after Donald Trump’s attack; Labor is not bailing out Sanjeev Gupta, Malinauskas says. How the day unfolded.
Labor open to equity stake in Whyalla steelworks
Part government ownership of the Whyalla steelworks is one option not being ruled out to help lure a buyer.
Jobless rate rises; Labor’s $2.4b Whyalla rescue; Rio Tinto’s miracle
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.