The Whyalla steelworks in South Australia is on the verge of collapse, with tens of millions of dollars owed to creditors and up to 1,000 jobs on the line.
The South Australian government held an emergency meeting on the plant’s future on Wednesday morning.
At the meeting, the state government passed legislation allowing it to act on the debts it is owed by GFG Alliance, which owns the steelworks.
The move is the beginning of a bid by the SA government to seize control of the plant and place it into administration.
Premier Peter Malinauskas was due to give a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The troubled steelworks is a big employer in Whyalla, a town northwest of Adelaide with a population of 22,000 people.
It has operated at a loss for months and the SA government had grown increasingly concerned that GFG Alliance would not be able to repay its debts.
The company, led by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, took over the steelworks in 2017 with promises to turn it into a ‘green’ plant.
The plant’s future hangs in the balance, with Premier Peter Malinauskas due to give a press conference on Wednesday afternoon
The company, led by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta (pictured), took over the steelworks in 2017
