Petition launched to save smelter

Thursday, 7 November 2019

Southland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Sheree Carey.

A petition has been launched as part of the fight for fairness campaign to save the Tiwai aluminium smelter from closure.

The Southland Chamber of Commerce launched the online petition at 4pm on Wednesday and it had 736 signatures within 24-hours.

Chamber chief executive Sheree Carey said the petition was one of the many tools the chamber was deploying to ensure the government was aware of the frustration and anger Southlanders felt about the inequality towards the south and the regions.

Carey confirmed businesses around town had offered cash for the fight for fairness campaign.

The campaign and petition enabled the Southland community to have a voice and be counted, she said.

* Campaign being launched to save Tiwai aluminium smelter

* Can Southland's economy cope if the smelter doors are shut?

* Bluff aluminium smelter could close taking power prices tumbling

* Reform proposal 'big blow' to Tiwai aluminium smelter**

The petition says change is needed to the current power transmission 'inequality'.

The smelter had been charged 'nearly $200 million over the past 10 years' for transmission infrastructure it did not use to take power to the North Island.

'The team at Tiwai has had no choice but to absorb these costs which has placed undue pressure on the operation.'

Smelter boss Stew Hamilton has said the financial position of the smelter is serious.

Smelter owner Rio Tinto has not made any decisions about its future, but it is reviewing all options, including closure, citing low low aluminium prices and high energy costs as threats to its ongoing viability.

It plans to talk with the New Zealand Government and energy providers to explore options.

A decision on the smelter's future is not expected until February or March, 2020.