Australia hasn't built a new steel mill in more than 30 years. Patrick Buchan on the $500 million all-electric plant going up on the old BHP site at Mayfield, why Newcastle won the site, and the 200 jobs that come with it.
Transcript Search or select a timestamp to jump ▾ 0:00 Speaker A: $500 million, 200 jobs, and a steel mill back here in the home of steel in Australia, right here in the Hunter, producing from first quarter 2028. 0:09 Speaker B: Mate, I can't not have you on the podcast and ask about the Pentagon because I think you're the only person I've had on the podcast that's spent some time there. 0:15 Speaker A: I worked there across both the Obama and the Trump administrations. The first Trump administration. Think about renewables and what's called sustainable manufacturing. It's not some pie in the sky. It's here. The technology's here and it's good for business, but it's also good for the environment. And that, that's a tick. Mate, there's a reason you're watching this. So it's okay for me to sit behind this anonymous screen and bag the person out, but it's the person in the arena that's having a go, that's willing to take a risk. Australia provides that. We've come to this wonderful country that's provided us the opportunity to take a go. We've got that ethos, but this is not ethereal for us. We're signed, we're ready to go. The advanced Danyali technology that we will deploy to be able to do 600,000 tonnes of rebar here in New South Wales, here in the Hunter, at scale, at speed, in the first quarter of 2028. 1:04 Speaker B: Today's episode, I'm sharing one of the most exciting stories that's happened in Newcastle in all of 2026, one of the most exciting stories for engineering and manufacturing that's happened in the Hunter for quite some time. I'm talking with Patrick Buchan. He is the president of Greensteel Australia and head of corporate affairs. We're talking about steelmaking coming back to the Hunter, why Greensteel chose the Hunter region, the tradition, the nostalgia, and also the new technologies that they're using in steelmaking. It's an exciting episode. It was a good conversation with Patrick. Exciting news for the Greater Hunter region, bringing steel back to Newcastle. Welcome to another episode of Engineering in the Hunter, and on today's episode we have Patrick Barkin. He's, uh, president of Greensteel Australia and heads up corporate affairs. Welcome, Pat. 1:51 Speaker A: Thanks, James. Thanks for having me, mate. So good to be here on your podcast and up here in the Hunter. 1:56 Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for making the effort to come up to the Hunter. Mate, for those of you, we're gonna get into the big steel story, which is one of the most exciting things and announcements to come to the Hunter in recent times. But to give a bit of context on your background, mate, give us a bit of context on your career to date and then what brought you to Greensteel. 2:14 Speaker A: Yeah, James. I don't come out of the steel industry originally. I think so many people of our generation probably don't because there was that generational leap, wasn't there, from the '90s where Australia and much of the Western world sort of got out of the steel business. For myself, I grew up in Melbourne, school down there, university in Melbourne. I went to Canberra, I worked in Canberra in policy and I worked on a lot of international policy. And that really gave me that love of bigger issues about what drives global economies, national security, and how those interplays. And I think when you think about this, what are the big things that drive global economies, that drive international politics? Well, it's things like oil, it's energy and manufacturing. And of course, software has been the other key area of influence. So I, I naturally gravitated towards when I thought, okay, when my time in government's done and when I'm moving into what I want to go into, into the corporate sector and manufacturing was something that fascinated me, particularly steel. 3:25 Speaker B: Mate, I can't not have you on the podcast and ask about the Pentagon because I think you're the only person I've had on the podcast that's spent some time there. Yeah. Mate, talk to me about a little bit of your time in the US and then we'll get back into the green steel stuff. 3:37 Speaker A: Yeah, sure, James. I spent 4 years working in the Pentagon in the, what's called on the policy staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. So you'd see in the, in the TV and the movies on what they call the E-ring. There's 5 rings to the Pentagon, so, and that's where the, the secretary's staff are. Uh, I worked there across both the Obama and the Trump administrations. The first Trump administration, I worked mostly on— our job was looking at what's the future look like, 5 years, 10-year planning. How do we deal with the big political and economic changes that are happening in the world? What capabilities uh, budgets and so on that the United States could put towards managing those changes. Particularly if you think of the times that, that I was there, China is, you know, had risen as a near peer of the United States. There are still wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia had very much changed the characteristic, although those who understood a little bit about Eurasian politics knew Russia's characteristics were never going to change. It just sort of morphed after the end of the Soviet Union. So we were dealing with fascinating, big geopolitical changes to the system. I think before the podcast, you and I were talking about how the world has changed very much since what was called the post-war order, where the world sort of— the United States was omnipresent. We had the UN system, we had international systems and organizations that govern the world. And there's no question that that's changed now. And I was there at that really fascinating time when those changes were occurring. And I think the United States had lost a lot of confidence in itself after what came to be known as the never-ending wars in the Middle East. I think that the ISIS— when people ask me, what were the big things that sort of took you by surprise in the 4 years that I was there? But the rise of the ISIS phenomenon was fascinating and horrifying, but so quick. that occurred. And I think that that's symbolic, isn't it, of the world of how quickly issues and changes come out of seemingly nowhere. And I think that's the big thing that policymakers really— the big change in the last, you know, 20 or 30 years is how fast issues pop up out of nowhere and how policymakers have to deal with that. 6:01 Speaker B: Now, the way you talk about it then really opens my eyes and gives me good insights into, you know, why you're going to be successful in the current role. I guess that understanding of policy We might as well go straight into that. How has policy in Australia helped facilitate the big move that's coming with Greensteel into the Hunter? Like, how important is that background skill set that you've got help set you up for success in, in what you're doing now? 6:25 Speaker A: I think it's an understanding of how government and industry and society must interact. must interact with one another. For us, let's— if we step back a little bit here, Australia and much of the Western world from about the early '90s, but really accelerating from the mid to late '90s, we saw manufacturing decrease massively as it went offshore. And why was that? It's a very simple answer. We know it's like it was labor cost, right? So going to India or countries like India, China, Vietnam, companies would offshore. Tariffs, international tariffs barriers were coming down. It was the great era of neoliberal free trade. So with that occurring, Australia— let's just talk on Australia— Australia lost an edge in manufacturing because of high labor cost. However, technology has leapfrogged that again. So what you could once, once perhaps you needed 1,000 workers to do, you can now do with 100, 200. And technology has enabled us to onshore manufacturing again. I think the second thing is that one of the big lessons we took through COVID, the globe supply chains are so fragile. Supply chains are so fragile. And here we are in our country at the bottom of the world, and we're at the end of a very long supply chain through to— from, from our traditional markets or export or where we import from. If you think of the critical— and I think I spoke about this before, right? And from my view, if you look at those critical inputs to the global economy and the international system, it's things like oil, it's steel, it's microprocessors. If you do not retain sovereignty over those, you are reliant on others. And a country of 28 million people, an advanced country of 28 million people like us, can't afford to do that. so far away from our supply chains. And I think things like COVID, I think the Trump effect as well has shown us that if you do not produce these as a nation yourself, you are critically reliant on others. And when I think of steel, I think what is such a critical input or the critical input to housing, and we all know about the issues, social issues with housing and all of us, the housing affordability, it's steel. Yeah. and if needed, for defence, to defend our nation. And as we know that, I think the international system and our political leaders say this, it is at the most critical juncture since the Second World War. So having steel and our ability, if need be, to provide the steel to defend our country, you've gotta have that yourself. And for too long, we relied on others. At Greensteel Australia, with what we have announced here in the Hunter, yeah, we're doing 600,000 tonnes of rebar, which is, For those of your listeners who may not know that, that's the critical inputs into construction. But it allows us a growth path to provide for others still. Second thing I want to point out there though is how can we do that? Well, we can do that because of the— we've leapfrogged the technology and the labour problems in terms of cost. This technology that we have signed that we will bring to Australia with Danialli, the world's leaders, it does 2 things. One, you can produce at scale with less humans in the loop, right? But the second thing is it's environmentally friendly. It's environmentally friendly. And taking all the culture wars off the table about sustainability or renewables, it's in your own interest to do so because the international system in terms of markets are demanding now that, and civil society is demanding that industry be more environmentally— friendly as it should be. 10:27 Speaker B: So, Matt, I know you're not in the technology day in, day out. You're not in the weeds of it. But give us a bit of an overview on what is the new technology? How is it different to what we've done traditionally? 10:38 Speaker A: Yeah. So first thing is when you think steel, you invoke images of smokestacks and sort of Dickensian-looking big steel plants like out of an old movie. Right. And if you go down to places such as Whyalla, you'll see that. 10:55 Speaker B: Yeah. 10:55 Speaker A: But like driving a Tesla versus, uh, my first car, the old Datto 180B, uh, times have moved on, right? Our technology, uh, and in steelmaking— and I want to say this, there is a myth getting around that things like hydrogen, electric arc furnaces, or, or what have you, are pie-in-the-sky ethereal tech, um, technology that's still yet to be invented. That is not the case because we bought it. Technology, like so much of our lives in the steelmaking industry, has absolutely leapfrogged. And that is the generational advantage Australia now brings. If you— our competitors, our commercial competitors in places like India and Vietnam and China, technology, as their technology leapfrogged ours, which was built in the '60s, and their '90s technology, we've now leapfrogged that. So let's talk a little bit about the relationship that Greensill Australia has with Daniali. 11:59 Speaker B: Yeah. 11:59 Speaker A: Daniali is— the best way to think about this is the Rolls-Royce of steelmaking. The Daniali Group have been in the steel business since the early 20th century, but they don't make steel. They make steel plants, which is a pretty niche business. And again, a fascinating one. You think about the role of you build steel plants. Think about the commercial, not only the commercial role, but the fascinating strategic and political role that that plays. So Danyali's technology that we will bring here to the Hunter will be an electric, fully electrical steel plant and used through an electrical arc furnace, which will produce our rebar. And that technology is currently being built. We've signed contracts and please go and Google us and you'll see us at our big signing ceremonies. That's being built in Italy right now. We will deploy that down here in the first quarter of 2028 to install for and for operations. So the best way to describe it is we will heat the steel to 1,000 degrees through the electric arc furnace and then you roll that But there's no gas, there is no flame, and there's no chimneys. So zero flame, zero chimneys, zero gas, all through an electric process. 13:27 Speaker B: Just slightly different to what we've done traditionally. 13:29 Speaker A: Yeah, so exactly like, you know, hauling in coal and putting in your furnace and, you know, then rolling and the smokestacks. That's gone. And again, just the way that old cars have gone, that technology's gone. Right now in the world, Daniali, the technology we'll bring— there is a plant in Japan that's using exactly the same process that we'll bring here to the Hunter to make rebar. And largely our equipment will resemble the existing plant in Japan. 14:01 Speaker B: What's changed in Australia over the past little bit to allow us to actually get to this point again? I know you've got that strong policy background, you understand the political game significantly. From a green steel perspective, what's changed to allow us to actually do this? And you've talked about bringing sovereign manufacturing back to Australia. So obviously the technology's changed, but what's changed from a political or a policy standpoint to allow us to actually start to do this again? 14:28 Speaker A: Yeah, I think there are a couple of things there and I think I spoke before, we talked about supply chains. We talk about the— I think the world having a shock at how the system has changed where perhaps the interconnected trade relationships and free trade and so on that we came to enjoy from the sort of last 30 years, the realisation that that's more fragile than we thought. That's point one. Point 2, governments then reflecting that by putting in incentives and bringing regulation, sort of bringing regulatory barriers down to enable Australian manufacturers because again, governments realised that, hey, perhaps where we offshored so much of our manufacturing in key strategic capabilities like steel, for example, that probably wasn't such a great idea. Free trade's fantastic. There are probably certain things that you really do need to be able to do yourself. And steel, you know, and again, I've got a vested interest in saying this, but I think even if I didn't, I'd say steel's probably right up there. And I think most people you talk to on the street would agree with that. 15:33 Speaker B: I agree. 15:34 Speaker A: So recognizing that governments have placed, have put things in place that would allow the onshoring of manufacturing through faster approval processes, through incentives, through grants and other fiscal incentives like the Future Made in Australia Future Funds. And that's those sort of initiatives which I got to say, not getting into any partisan political commentary there, but very, very grateful. to the Albanese federal Labor government and to the Minns state Labor government for really having a go in and saying, look, let's, let's not just talk about onshoring manufacturing, but incentivise those that want to get into the game, giving them every access and bringing every barrier we can down to enable that. Again, because, you know, Australia needs a steel industry. 16:31 Speaker B: And it can't happen without those incentives and without actually making that process easier. I think for too long it's been significantly hard or challenging where we need to make that as easy as possible for Australian manufacturing to actually grow again. 16:45 Speaker A: Of course. You know, I think that what we saw over the last sort of decade in terms of the changes in the international system and again, this— I keep coming back to this, but this fragility that COVID really gave us and, you know, the international I guess, tensions that we see around the world, that if you don't have your onshore capabilities for manufacturing, you're in real trouble if things go south. And what we saw in COVID was things went south. You know, we all remember the shortages and so on. But imagine a prolonged situation, let's say for Australia. You know, we are geographically isolated from perhaps our, you know, what we term our close allies. We'd be gone if we didn't have our own onshore manufacturing to be able to deliver the steel, to be able to produce for the Australian housing market. And as our country grows, to produce steel if needed for our defence sector. And I think that the federal governments and state governments have realised that, that perhaps all of us over the last 30 years went a little bit too far in offshoring so many things and that perhaps that our mineral resources sector and our services sector, well, let's just put a third— let's rebuild that third arm of the manufacturing sector and the opportunities, the good jobs, the good technical jobs that it gives Australians to go into. And that's exactly what we've— I don't want to say taken advantage of, but the technology has now— I want to come back to this. The technology has now enabled us to be able to onshore profitably because of technology. Again, we don't— the days of 10,000 people working at a steel plant, they're gone. Okay. And they're not coming back. But now you can do it with what once was thousands. You can now do it with 100 or 200 workers because of technology. 18:43 Speaker B: We'll definitely get into the jobs part and what it means for the Hunter as well. But if we just go back a little bit about Greensteel, gimme a little bit of history background on Greensteel. Yeah. Why'd you join there? Tell me a little bit about the company itself. 18:56 Speaker A: Yeah, sure. James, Greensteel Australia is owned by Meena and Romana Ibrahim, who are just absolutely the best bosses I've ever had. They are entrepreneurs at scale. across their businesses. There's several businesses they have across so many things, medical, construction, childcare centres, existing manufacturing facilities in our sister company Rio Steel, which produces rebar at scale in New South Wales. Green Steel came about because again, Hopping back to COVID, through the existing construction companies, you couldn't get rebar. So in true Mena and Romani style, which is what you see with entrepreneurs, it's right, I'll go and build a— I'll go and create a steel company. Yeah. And when you've got that sort of capital, you can do that. But it came about through necessity for existing businesses because steel during, you know, there's this, the inability to get steel during COVID because we were reliant on overseas markets. So that's how Greensteel came about. Additionally, the technology and the existing relationships with the Daniali company group enabled it at CEO to CEO level to say, hey, look, let's do this. 20:29 Speaker B: Yeah, there's an opportunity here. 20:30 Speaker A: There's an opportunity. And that was signed, that contract was formalised in 2024 that we were, we were going to do this. We've been looking around. I know many people have said to us, wow, you came out of nowhere, Newcastle. I can assure you that perhaps publicly it might seem that way, but we've been working very hard for a couple of years behind the scenes with policymakers and other entities, corporate entities and so on, about doing this announcement. So we've really done our homework and with Daniele. And we We're so proud. It's not just a coincidence that 51 Industrial Drive, North Mayfield, here in the Hunter is the spot and the home of BHP effectively, right? So the fact that we're going there is, A, because it's a fantastic site and it's got exactly the long buildings. Our rolling line here in the Hunter at at the Mayfield site. It's 400 meters long. The Daniali engineers and our Greensill engineers have had to modify things a little bit because the assembly line will be so long. But that site really has tradition. Not only is it a fantastic site and it's got what we need, but it really has a bit of an emotive context to say, wow, we're bringing it back home here to Newcastle. Just happened that site was available, so it's fantastic. It's really cool. Oh, 21:57 Speaker B: it's significant, significant for the Hunter. I think it is emotional and it's emotional for a lot of people. I think a lot of people still in the Hunter have that relationship or have generations beforehand. Of course. And that tie to steel. We obviously moved more to, I guess, a coal-based industry up here. Of course. Coal and mining creating a lot of jobs for people of the Hunter. And that industry's changing as well. I think it's going to still be here for a while to go. 22:22 Speaker A: Look, yeah, I'm one of these people that I think I don't— I'm not into the culture wars when it comes to manufacturing and renewables. Mine's a very hard-headed business approach that I look at it. And traditional energy and traditional manufacturing can coexist and should coexist as we— as a blended model as we move to the future. But I think if people think about renewables and what's called sustainable manufacturing. It's not some pie in the sky. Maybe 20 years ago it might have been, but it's not now. It's here. The technology's here and it's good for business, but it's also good for the environment. And that's a tick. But it shouldn't ever be driven primarily by, oh, you know, it's, it's, it's just great for the environment. So let's do it. That's a really positive after— that's a really positive secondary to the fact that we can— the technology now exists. It's good for the environment, good for jobs, and can actually produce at scale by using newer energy sources. 23:21 Speaker B: Yeah, it's commercially viable, right? That's at the end of the game. It needs to actually be, we can actually do something here. We can actually build a business out of this. We can do it productive in the Hunter. The plan itself, 2028, what's it look like between now and 2028? 23:34 Speaker A: Yep, no, so first quarter 2028 is production. Again, not pie in the sky. We've done AI on the wiki. Production. Yep, that's production. 23:42 Speaker B: That actually is gonna come around very quickly. It's not far away, is it? Oh, we know it is. 23:45 Speaker A: If you look at our, say, Rio Steel, that was a couple of years from thought to pressing the button. We can move at scale very quickly and our equipment as it's being manufactured, it comes out, it's like a Meccano set. You just go ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. So, you know, sort of take what takes years to build previously. Again, those timeframes can now be shortened because of the tech to be able to do that. I think the other thing is as we go through our planning processes, we're working very closely with governments at all levels who have been sort of very aware of our ambitions and our plans. That's now turned into planning and contracts signed. We will be looking to recruit. So I think I mentioned there'll be 200 people at the Newcastle site. We will open to recruitment in early 2027. And part of our Daniele contract is we have all the training— People to help train. who will come out from Italy to help our workforce. I want to be very clear about something. We don't care if you finished your formal education in year 9 or you went to Sydney University. We want to hear from you because we will train you in a good job, a well-paid job, a satisfying job. And I mean this again, this emotive thing that we all have with steel. something for our country, something for our country that you are producing for our country to help build it. And maybe one day provide the steel to defend it. And so we want to hear from you. And, and that's 200 jobs here in the Hunter, skilled jobs, manufacturing jobs, seeing the labor of your efforts actually produce something. 25:36 Speaker B: And that's, that's when it's up and running, the job creation. during the build process, the planning, all of that. The ongoing effect is actually significantly larger for the Hunter than just the ongoing jobs. 25:47 Speaker A: Of course. So indirect jobs, right? I mean, that's every at-scale production has the indirect. We will use— so at the— and if people are not familiar, please jump on Google Maps and have a look at the site. It's just a magnificent site. The buildings there, we will use those existing buildings. And obviously we've got, we'll do some refurbishment. But the reason we are so attracted, not only 'cause the Hunter is the home of steel, but those buildings just are perfect for steel. And there's a reason why, 'cause that's where they used to make steel, right? Yeah. And so we can, we will use those existing buildings. So, you know, local trades, local logistics and local transport inevitably will in-house a lot of it, but also a lot of it's gonna be available. will be available to local trades as we advance through our planning cycle. 26:38 Speaker B: That's beautiful. And mate, when we're talking about size and scope of this, what's it mean like dollar-wise? What are we investing in the Hunter? 26:45 Speaker A: $500 million Australian dollars is our direct investment upfront. 26:51 Speaker B: $500 million investment into the Hunter region. 26:54 Speaker A: $500 million, 200 jobs and a steel mill, back here in the home of steel in Australia, right here in the Hunter, producing from first quarter 2028. 27:08 Speaker B: I think it's a significant investment, significant announcement for the region. It's great to be seen or hearing the chatter around town around, have you heard steel's coming back? 27:19 Speaker A: It's funny, a couple of the— when I've jumped in a cab or whatever, inevitably I haven't sort of told anyone who I work for and just asked about, you know, just try to find out. Obviously any town you're in, you always ask the Uber driver and the cabbie for the goss. And I've said, I've heard that there's a possible steel mill coming back. And it's fantastic, the response. In fact, I had a beer at one of the better pubs here last night. There's some good pubs in this town. And the young lady pouring a beer, I asked her about it. She said she'd heard it. And she said, oh, my dad's really excited. And so that just really gives you real gratification to know that you're bringing steel back. But for younger people, we know this generationally how important that the environment and sustainable manufacturing is to them. Well, we tick that box as well. 28:22 Speaker B: Yeah, I think a couple of phases there. I think it's sovereign manufacturing. I think that's It's a trend we as a country continue to lean into. But it's, as you said, the environmental side of it as well. Environmental manufacturing or environmental outputs in and around that manufacturing space is a significant space for us to continue to grow. 28:38 Speaker A: That's right. And of course, manufacturing really has got to the point now in renewables globally that, you know, if we look at Tesla, take that, let's just call it EVs, you know, the EV market, aircraft, manufacturing, the use of cleaner, newer technology now enables that. It's not sort of ethereal pipe dreams. It's here. And those that in less responsible media outlets that sort of bang on about renewables and so on, the rest of the world's going down that path. We must— we have to keep suit or our economy gets left behind. It's as simple as that. 29:16 Speaker B: So this is a big announcement for the Hunter, really significant, as you said. I like the way, you know, the home of steel. 29:23 Speaker A: Yeah, sure. 29:23 Speaker B: I think the Hunter really will lean into that again because that nostalgia. What does it look like ongoing for Greensteel in the Hunter? I imagine this is not a one and done. I know there's been talk of a phase 2 or ongoing plans. I imagine there are bigger, longer-term plans for Greensteel in the Hunter. What does that look like? What can you share at the moment? What does it mean for the greater region? 29:48 Speaker A: Well, first thing I'd say is it's not just a big deal for the Hunter, although it is, but it's actually for our country. This is the first steel plant announced in this country in 30 years. That's significant. And it goes to show the way that the world is moving again, once back to onshoring your own manufacturing for your critical capabilities that a country and an economy needs. So it's big for, big for Australia, it's big for New South Wales, and it's fantastic for the Hunter. That's the first thing I really would say. And we're very proud to be here in the Hunter. We really are. This is the home of steel and it's not just the home of steel, but it's also the home of the technical skill set in people because of that intergenerational manufacturing capability that you can't find in a lot of places in Australia anymore. Right. I agree. 30:37 Speaker B: I believe that the Hunter bats well above its average when it comes to manufacturing. 30:41 Speaker A: No question. 30:41 Speaker B: The Hunter Manufacturing Awards each year shares the best of what's going on locally. Newcastle, the Greater Hunter could do a better job of actually sharing some of those stories and the really great companies locally that are manufacturing locally, the great people locally. As you said, there are a lot of very skilled people in and around that manufacturing engineering space that this is obviously going to create more jobs for as well. 31:03 Speaker A: But, and it's not just the skills that exist, it's people willing to willing and coming, I guess, intergenerationally coming out of that, that workforce that want to get back into it. I, I think so many people were, to be frank, um, were sold over the last 30 years, perhaps our generation was sold that, you know, oh, it's all about going, you've got to go to university and just go to— well, yeah, sure, I did. And, um, and I was never going to be, uh, I guess, a technically skilled worker. That wasn't my thing. But I think so many people People were told that. And I just don't think that's— 31:39 Speaker B: Now there's a definite trend back to trades. That's right. If you have a look at trades at the moment, some of them, they're earning significant amount of money. 31:47 Speaker A: Good trades. And good on 'em. Gotta love 'em. 31:49 Speaker B: Yeah. Phenomenal. And they're super vital to the actual, as you said, for the economy, right? The building, the housing market is challenged, having a commercial building as well. That's right. The trades that are actually needed for that, the engineers that are actually needed As you said, there was definitely a trend to say, oh, you need to go to uni. 32:05 Speaker A: Yeah, everyone's gotta go to uni and sit there for 4 years and, you know. 32:08 Speaker B: Correct. And I'm the same as you. I'm useless with a hammer. I'd be useless as a tradesperson. Put me outside at 6 AM and ask me to do some work. It's not for me. 32:17 Speaker A: Yeah, 32:17 Speaker B: sure. But that engineering, that manufacturing market has always been hard edged into the Hunter, into the region. There'd been a lot of jobs that it was, BHP, it's the mining market. It's manufacturing here. So I think the alignment piece there and actually encouraging that again to that next generation, that these are the jobs of the future as well. 32:39 Speaker A: And that's a critical component as to our commercial decision to bring Greensill Australia's first steel mill here to the Hunter. We will be announcing what we call Stage 2. And again, I want to be very clear. Our contracts are signed, our media releases are out there. We are not— 33:01 Speaker B: Hypotheticals. 33:02 Speaker A: We're not hypotheticals. We're paid up, we're ready to go and to deploy. Our equipment is being manufactured to come to Australia to be assembled here in Australia. So we're not hypothetical. But the Hunter for us was a commercial decision based on where's the skill set, where's the land, Where's the most important, well, not most importantly, but critical is the input infrastructure, rail, electricity, roads, et cetera. But the fact that this is the home of steel and manufacturing in Australia means you've got the skills base and those willing to go into manufacturing, this is the only place to be. 33:43 Speaker B: That's phenomenal. I think it's great for the region. It's great for that next generation. As we said, it's these 200 jobs to start with, but it's also that what does this look like long-term. And it's another big opportunity for the greater region. And as you said, it's those flow-on effects as well, the logistics, the other companies that are working in and around it as well. So it's bigger than the 200 jobs and I'll be very closely watching these, you know, phase 2 and what it does look like for the ongoing. 34:10 Speaker A: Yeah, so look, I'll just briefly touch on phase 2 'cause a lot of people ask about phase 2. We are in advanced discussions with another jurisdiction for our stage 2 plans. We would love to do that in the Hunter, but we just feel that first for our second stage, that the size and requirements, we can't just get the land availability is not here. So stage 2, we'll be making an announcement on. We're very advanced with that jurisdiction. I can say it's in New South Wales. 34:46 Speaker B: Beautiful. 34:47 Speaker A: So we want a full, what we call a full closed loop to be able to do that, to do that all here in New South Wales. But stage 1, that's announced. We will be in the next few weeks looking to make some further announcements on that with— and we will have a very notable political figure in this country coming along to our site. to help us break ground as we begin our construction phase. And we're really excited about that and for bringing 600,000 tonnes of rebar for Australia's construction sector. We all know Australia's, you know, housing issues and as we grow as a country and the demands on that. So we look very much forward to producing that for Australia's construction and housing sector. 35:36 Speaker B: Mate, there's a couple of little pieces that I just want to pull back on that you've mentioned earlier today. You've mentioned the founders, you've mentioned entrepreneurs. Opportunities like this don't come about unless you have those entrepreneurial people. 35:49 Speaker A: Yep. 35:49 Speaker B: Obviously the capital and everything comes along with it, but it's the people that it sounded like this come across from scratching their own itch. And I work with startups and software a lot. People see their own little problem, build something for and then figure out it's a real world problem. I can sell this. It sounds like it's a similar situation on a much larger scale. They had other construction businesses where they actually needed this. They've got a lack of resource and they've gone about actually fixing the problem for themselves and the flow-on effect that is gonna have for the rest of the region, state, country. 36:23 Speaker A: Absolutely. And working for guys that are, I think a lot of people like to think of themselves as an entrepreneur, but to see how it works at scale and how fast people can move is really heartening. And I think if we look at the big, those that make the big moves in whatever facet of life that may be, those that talk and those that do, it's those that do it how they think and how they operate. It's fascinating to watch up close. And, you know, the reality is people like that don't think like others. You know, we're all conditioned in one way, but to have a crack. And I really love here in our country, to have a go, to have a go and have a crack yourself. And I think so many times that people can be a little bit down and we tend to talk our country down or our economy down. But this is seriously the greatest country in the world. The opportunities for business here are fantastic. To get up, it doesn't matter where you were born, doesn't matter what your background is here in Australia. If you want to work hard and you want to make the big calls, governments and societies will back you in to be able to do that. And we exemplify that at GreenSteel Australia. 37:49 Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's a perfect shout out. And I think it's great to encourage more people like that. And the people, as you said, a very few minority of the people that go from talking about it to actually executing on it, those people are an absolute minority. And I think we should be doing more and more to encourage people like that. to continue to build in Australia, to make opportunities for them to execute on these big plans. 38:16 Speaker A: Could I give you a quick example of life example? I can recall once when I was a kid, I was watching the cricket with my dad and my father, I think it was Michael Slater was batting, funny enough. And I sort of said, oh, what a crummy shot, or whatever I said. My old man looked at me and he said, This has stayed with me all my life and driven me in so much. One, just one thing your parent can say to you. He said to me, he looked at me and he said, mate, there's a reason you're watching this. So it's okay for me to sit behind this anonymous screen and bag the person out, but it's the, you know, if I can quote Teddy Roosevelt, it's the person in the arena that's having a go, that's willing to take a risk, And I think that Australia provides that because of our nature of our society. As you know, ultimately we're all migrants here. We've come to this wonderful country that's provided us the opportunity to take a go, have a go. And I think it is the Australian way to have a crack. But again, coming back to Greens Australia, we've got that ethos, we've got that quick can-do attitude, entrepreneurial spirit to move at pace and at scale. But this is not ethereal for us. We're signed, we're ready to go. The equipment's here, the advanced Danyali technology that we will deploy to be able to do 600,000 tonnes of rebar here in New South Wales, here in the Hunter at scale, at speed in the first quarter of 2028. 39:45 Speaker B: I can't think of a better way to wrap up the podcast than that. That's a strong finish. It's a strong line. It's great for the Hunter. I really appreciate your time. 39:56 Speaker A: Mate, thanks for having me. And although I live in Sydney, My duties now involve me being here in the Hunter, and I've got a lot of mates that I— when I served in the Army, a lot of Newcastle guys that gives me a chance to get up here and have a beer with those guys. And it's just such a cool Australian town, Newcastle. I think it really does exemplify what I love about Australia. Beach, hardworking, people not taking themselves all too seriously, that down-to-earth attitude. And I think that Newcastle is a great example of that. Newcastle is just the exemplar of what I love about our country. 40:32 Speaker B: I appreciate you taking the time to come up here today, and I look forward to watching the Greensill Australia journey as we move into 2028 and beyond. 40:40 Speaker A: Thanks, mate. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. 40:44 Speaker B: Thanks for listening to this episode of Engineering in the Hunter. This episode was brought to you by NTP Talent. If you're building your engineering manufacturing teams in and around the Hunter, Love to have a conversation with you at NTP Talent, where we're helping teams across the Greater Hunter build and add talent to their teams. If you'd like some more information, visit our website, ntptalent.com.au. This episode was produced by Day One. I'll see you on the next episode. No transcript lines match that phrase. Try fewer words.
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