Sanjeev Gupta’s debts to SA are becoming a real problem for the premier

While the head of GFG is busy sipping a whisky in his purpose built tasting room, the people of SA have been let down by him and successive well-meaning governments, writes David Penberthy.

There should be no shame in being rich. If you’ve made a pile of dough through hard work, risk-taking, innovation, and created jobs and returns for others while upholding the law and your tax obligations, no fair person would begrudge you a cent. If you paid everyone who helped you along the way as you amassed that wealth, more power to your arm. You can live anywhere, fly anywhere in your own private jet, do whatever the hell you like.

Which brings us to Sanjeev Gupta.

Whenever Powerball jackpots, we all like daydreaming about what we’d do if we won $100 million bucks.

How do you get rid of that much money?

Sanjeev shows us the way. You’d blow it by spending it on stupid, indulgent stuff.

Not just a home cinema or an indoor pool and sauna or what’s in laughably juvenile fashion been dubbed a “Batman and Robin” underground driveway into your $39 million mansion in Potts Point on Sydney Harbour.

Oh, and how about a yoga room and a whisky room?

I don’t know about you, but if I had the money, I don’t think it would be my dream to come home after a hard day running a cash-strapped steel conglomerate to spend 20 minutes in the lotus position before having a glass of Laphroaig.

This is wealth in the manner of Steve Martin’s character Navin Johnson in his classic comedy The Jerk – crass, gauche, absurd, profligate. All Mr Gupta is lacking is his own private roller disco.

None of this is vaguely amusing in SA right now. Least of all in Whyalla.

What a contrast between the lifestyle Gupta leads versus the day to day realities of people in the Iron Triangle.

Sanjeev Gupta poses in his city office on the 10th floor of the EY building in Adelaide. Picture: Mark Brake

Gupta’s spending is spending of the ‘up-yours’ variety. He is spending millions on himself while he owes millions to the rest of us.

Of that “us”, most important are the contractors of the Iron Triangle, still chasing invoices for work and services provided to GFG.

How did it come to this?

With hindsight maybe it hasn’t come to this now, but has really been like this for a long while, as GFG is clobbered internationally by multimillion-dollar debts.

Perhaps in hindsight we have been played for saps.

You could say that of both sides of politics, while cutting them slack for hoping that what might have sounded too good to be true was actually true, or could one day be true.

There is a long line of politicians who’ve cuddled up, queued up and flown up to Whyalla for their moment of Sanjeev magic.

Jay Weatherill, Steven Marshall, Scott Morrison, Peter Malinauskas ... all have stood with Mr Gupta spruiking the exciting times ahead.

Former Premier Jay Weatherill visits Liberty One Steel Whyalla Steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta. Picture: Dylan Coker

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison with former SA Premier Steven Marshall and Sanjeev Gupta. Picture: Tom Huntley

Right now, none more so than Peter Malinauskas. From the 2022 election campaign, his two biggest problems were to fix hospital ramping and build a $593 million hydrogen plant predicated on its provision of power to the neighbouring steelworks.

With the problems surrounding the efficacy of hydrogen production aside, what we are looking at right now is a bleak case of no steelworks, no hydrogen plant anyway, leaving the Premier seeking re-election in 12 months time with his two biggest promises unfulfilled.

That’s his problem. What matters here is not whether some politician wins or loses.

What matters is whether we are all left on the hook for a bailout which is potentially growing by the day.

What matters is whether Australia can still make its own high-end steel products for railways and bridges and buildings and motorways, or whether we have to go cap in hand to China – of all places – to see if they’ll be kind enough to sling some our way.

Cameron England is a seasoned and celebrated business reporter on this newspaper. He also knows Sanjeev Gupta well, and has spoken to him on several occasions.

England wrote a powerful piece last week, with none of the derision I stumped for above, plaintively arguing that for the good of the state and the nation GFG can’t get out of Whyalla fast enough.

You got the sense that England wrote this with a heavy heart, having had a front row seat for the many exciting moments mentioned earlier, where the politicians flew in for some big-picture thinking.

To borrow a line from Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols: Ever get the feeling you’ve been had?

“Arguably the best outcome for Whyalla at this stage of the GFG Alliance fiasco is for the entity that owns the steelworks to put itself into administration, thereby kicking off a bidding contest between our political leaders for who can promise the most to save the steel city,” England wrote.

“The fact that a politician’s pre-election promises now carry much more weight than anything Mr Gupta has to say about the future of the steelworks speaks ­volumes.

“But sadly it’s true.

“While it seems unlikely the company’s major creditors, including the state government, are inclined to tip it into administration at this point – the government would be crazy to do this, from a political standpoint – a voluntary administration would likely be a good outcome.

“A new owner could then emerge, likely bearing a fistful of our taxpayer dollars, and ensure that a Whyalla wipeout is taken off the table.”

Every word England wrote is true. It’s time to pull the bandaid off. The only things keeping this company going are its owner’s vanity and denial. The emperor has no clothes. It’s something he could reflect on post-yoga, over a nice single malt.

Originally published as Sanjeev Gupta’s debts to SA are becoming a real problem for the premier