Paul Barry on the billionaire who failed Whyalla
6/20/202614 min
In 2017, billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration, becoming known as the “saviour of steel”.
There was hope in this small South Australian town that steelmaking – and the thousands of jobs tied to it – would survive. But since then, Gupta has lost control, the South Australian government has forced the steelworks into administration, and taxpayers are now underwriting the rescue to the tune of $2.4 billion.
Now, the sale of the steelworks is in its final stages, but the question of whether Whyalla becomes the green steel town politicians promised, or whether public money is being used to keep an ageing steelworks alive, remains.
Today, investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry, on the billionaire who brought Whyalla to the brink – and what it would really take to save the town.
This episode was originally published in January, 2025.
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Guest: Investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry
Photo: AAP Image/David Mariuz
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDaniel James· Host0:00
[gentle music] I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7.a.m. In 2017, billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration, becoming known as the savior of steel. There was hope in this small South Australian town that steelmaking, and the thousands of jobs tied to it, would survive. But since then, Gupta has lost control. The South Australian government has forced the steelworks into administration, and taxpayers are now underwriting the rescue to the tune of $2.4 billion. Now the sale of the steelworks is in its final stages, but the question of whether Whyalla becomes the green steel town politicians promised or whether public money is being used to keep an aging steelworks alive remains. Today, we revisit an episode with investigative journalist and former host of the ABC's Media Watch, Paul Barry, on the billionaire who brought Whyalla to the brink and what it would really take to save the town. It's Sunday, June 21. This episode was first published in January 2025.
Speaker 21:14
So Paul, to start with, tell me a bit about Whyalla and why the steelworks there are so important.
Paul Barry· Guest1:23
So it's a town that has 22,000 people. It was gonna be much bigger. It's kind of like