PM plans to use Whyalla’s business ‘comeback’ as inspiration

Whyalla is the steel town which came back from disaster. Scott Morrison is using it as inspiration for a comeback of his own.

Whyalla is proof “the comeback can happen, PM Scott Morrison says. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/Getty

Scott Morrison says he’ll use the South Australian “comeback” town of Whyalla as his inspiration ahead of the federal election, as he pledged his government would run its full term and sharpened his pitch to voters.

The Coalition has ended 2018 in the grip of a poll slump, with the latest Newspoll conducted for The Australian revealing its primary vote on 35 per cent compared to Labor at 41 per cent.

The two-party-preferred split has Labor ahead 55-45 per cent.

The Prime Minister used British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s announcement of plans to build one of the world’s largest steel plants in Whyalla as proof “the comeback can happen”, more than two years after former steelworks operator Arrium went into administration.

“(Whyalla has) stuck in there, and if you believe in it passionately and you know what you are on about and you believe in the future you are trying to create, well then that comeback is always possible,” Mr Morrison said.

“I’ll take Whyalla as my inspiration.”

Mr Morrison pledged to hand down a surplus budget on April 2 and warned a strong economy would be put at risk if he lost election, as he attempts to win back voters following a chaotic few months for the Coalition since Malcolm Turnbull’s ousting.

“Our vision for Australia is a stronger economy that pays for Medicare, that pays for hospitals, that pays for schools, that pays for the important infrastructure that Australians rely on. That’s why I believe in creating a stronger economy,” he said.

“It’s not something you put on a trophy on a shelf, it’s something that actually delivers the things that Australians desperately rely on, like affordable medicines. I mean, we saw under the Labor government when their budget fell to pieces they couldn’t afford to list important affordable medicines on the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). That’s what’s at risk when you play around with a stronger economy which we’re creating.”

Bill Shorten refused to comment on Newspoll but said it was worth asking Mr Morrison and his colleagues for their thoughts.

“For five-and-a-half years I’ve had a habit of not commenting about the polls, because sometimes they’re good and sometimes they’re not so good, so I don’t comment about the polls. I think you should ask though Mr Morrison the Prime Minister and his Liberal team what they think about them,” the Opposition Leader said.