List of recommendations

Recommendation 1

4.13The committee recommends that East West Line Parks resumes engagement with Infrastructure Australia and provide it with the information that it requires to complete an assessment of Project Iron Boomerang.

Recommendation 2

4.15The committee recommends the Australian Government commissions and publishes a scoping study on the establishment of a steel plant/s located in Northern Australia. The study should consider:

the most suitable location/s including economic viability and financing arrangements of such a plant/s, taking into account trends in and affecting the global iron ore and steel markets;

the use of metallurgical coal and/or hydrogen as potential reductants;

the capacity of the Australian Government to provide potential guarantees, loans, grants, and/or equity arrangements;

legislative or regulatory approvals;

exposure to risk;

employment, environmental and social impacts, and land acquisition;

engagement with Indigenous communities and local communities; and

the national security implications of increasing the domestic steel supply.

Recommendation 3

4.17The committee recommends the Department of Defence details the use of steel in, and the value of steel to, Australia’s defence industry in the Defence Industry Policy Strategy, covering:

steel use and demand in current defence projects;

projected future supply and demand requirements;

the strategic value of any excess capacity arising from a capacity increase, such as from a new steel plant; and

the risks to, and impact from, any disruption or shortfall in both the domestic and global steel markets.