Southland leaders to push Tiwai case on Monday

Friday, 21 August 2020

Southland’s leaders will seek government help on Monday to keep the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter open for at least five more years.

The region’s leaders will meet with Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Energy Minister Megan Woods in Invercargill and put their case forward.

A spokesperson for Robertson confirmed he would be in the city on Sunday night for the ANZ Premiership netball final and this presented an opportunity for him to meet with Southland’s leaders the following day.

Robertson would attend a business breakfast and listen to the region’s business leaders’ ideas, his spokesperson said.

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**

‘’There’s also a meeting with the mayors which is very much focussed on giving them the opportunity to give their input into the Government’s thinking on the region’s future economic opportunities.

’’So it’s all very much a listening exercise for the minister.’’

Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks, chairman of the Southland mayoral forum, said he would be among those engaging with both Robertson and Woods.

He would not reveal what Southland’s leaders wanted the government to do to help Tiwai stay open, but said they would present options they wanted pursued.

Hicks said both Robertson and Woods understood their views, with electronic discussions being had in recent times, and he was encouraged they had agreed to speak with them.

’’We have been putting the case for Southland and the potential impact the closure of the Tiwai plant would have, just making them very aware of the challenges that would bring to Invercargill and across the province.’’

Southland's leaders had also reached out to the other political parties and engaged with them.

“No one has given any guarantees but certainly everyone’s looking to see what options they see as a way forward that will protect jobs, which is the big focus,’’ Hicks said.

Having the smelter continue in its present form was the ideal end game, ‘’but if that’s not to be, and I understand the commercial pressures, at least a five year transition period’’.

Time was moving on and he suggested a solution needed to be found soon.

’’Rio has given that ultimatum [August 2021 closure date], we have an election coming in October, we have got [Tiwai] employees feeling incredibly vulnerable.

‘’All of those factors lead you to believe this has to be done as quickly as possible.’’

He was aware negotiations between Rio Tinto and Meridian, the main electricity supplier to the smelter, were ongoing.

The smelter’s majority owner, Rio Tinto, announced in June that it planned to close the smelter in August 2021 after failing to reach an agreement over a desired reduction in its power bills.

When approached on Friday, Rio Tinto referred Stuff to a previous statement from its aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios, which said the company was committed to working with its partners as it progressed through detailed planning towards closure and would do all it could, together with the government, to find ways to support the Southland community.

“And we are not in a position to discuss details of those conversations at this time,” he said Friday.

A Meridian spokeswoman said it had no update and when/if it did it would make a market announcement.

On August 10 Meridian said it had put a confidential proposal to NZAS [smelter] with the objective of allowing NZAS to close down the smelter over a longer period of time - Meridian has proposed up to four years.

‘’To date that proposal has not been accepted and Meridian's current expectation is that the smelter will close on 31 August, 2021 as previously announced by NZAS.’’