Winston Peters to hold 'Save Tiwai' public meeting in Invercargill

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Minister of Energy and Resources Megan Woods and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speak about Tiwai Aluminium Smelter closing.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will visit Invercargill on Friday where he will hold a ‘’Save Tiwai’’ public meeting.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Invercargill last week to meet with Southland leaders following an announcement from Rio Tinto that it will close its smelter at Tiwai Point next year.

The smelter employs close to 1000 directly and further 1000-plus jobs indirectly in Southland.

Ardern said her discussions with the Southland’s leaders were around looking at ways to create new job opportunities in the future rather than trying to save the smelter long-term.

**READ MORE:

NZ First leader Winston Peters will hold a 'Save Tiwai'' public meeting in Invercargill on Friday.

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* Deputy Prime Minister vows to fight for Tiwai aluminium smelter

However, the Labour Party leader seems to have a much different view than coalition partner’s New Zealand First.

Peters, the New Zealand First leader, declared last week he would fight to save the smelter.

Soon after Rio Tinto’s announcement, Peters vowed to fight to save Tiwai.

He said had supported the idea of a Tiwai worker/management buy-out for close to 10 years and would continue to do so.

Although at an E tū union meeting last week, union delegate and Tiwai smelter staff member Cliff Dobbie said there was no chance of a management or worker buyout.

It is understood Southland’s leaders talked at length with Ardern last week about the need for a five-year extension before Tiwai closed to help transition the province’s economy.

But Peters was still keen to see Tiwai remain open long-term.

“Transition to what?’’ Peters said.

“They all need to be asking this question. We’ve got a most successful, world-class aluminium product in the world … are we having to give this up? We own the water, we own Meridian, so what’s the problem here?”

Friday’s public meeting will be held at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club at 1pm.

As part of its election campaign, the Social Credit party, which is not in parliament, has called on the Government to buy the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and turn it into a state-owned enterprise.

Ardern re-affirmed her stance around focusing on new jobs for Southland during a Newstalk ZB interview on Monday.

“The big discussion is how long will the phasing out of Tiwai be. So far we’ve heard roughly 14 months, but obviously Tiwai are in negotiations with Meridian as we speak so look that might change.

“In the interim, there’s no question that 14 months is not a lot of time for the kinds of longer-term projects that might provide ongoing income for those who are in those high-wage, high-skilled jobs.

“But there are plenty of prospects down there,’’ Ardern said.

When pushed on what those prospects were, Ardern pointed to hydrogen and potential in the electric vehicle space.

Ardern said there was a range of different options, rather than a singular industry to replace the jobs lost through the Tiwai closure.

The Prime Minister pointed to both the Homer Tunnel development and Invercargill’s inner-city development as projects which would create jobs for Southland in the short-term.

“When you talk to the workers at Tiwai they’ll tell you that number of their skilled work-force are tradespeople; carpenters and the like. People who will be able to transition into some of those other jobs.’’