Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern heading south to talk Tiwai

Friday, 25 September 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be in Invercargill on Monday to talk Tiwai with Southland leaders.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be in Southland on Monday to speak with leaders about the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.

Smelter majority owners Rio Tinto announced in July it would close the smelter in August 2021, saying the business was no longer viable given high energy costs and a challenging outlook for the aluminium industry.

Since then, Southland’s leaders have been lobbying the Government to step in to help keep the smelter open for at least five more years.

It is understood they want the Government to help reduce the high transmission costs which Rio Tinto has said need to be “fair” if the plant is to remain open for an extended period.

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Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks, the Southland mayoral forum chairman who invited Ardern to Southland, said he had asked her to share the Labour’s Party’s policy, in regards to Tiwai, with Southland’s leaders.

Hicks sad he had stressed the importance of the primary and energy sectors to the south when inviting Ardern to the region.

The transmission costs for the smelter had always been the sticking point, and Ardern was being asked what solutions there may be to reduce those costs, Hicks said.

“I know how complex and complicated the legal frameworks are around that, I don’t think there’s a magic overnight solution to the transmission costs, but certainly for the plant to continue operating for some years into the future their needs to be some relief.”

Rio Tinto said this week that, despite its desire to provide certainty for its workers and the Southland community around the smelter’s future, the Government has told it that no decisions would be made before the election.

Hicks said he did not know if Ardern would be making any announcements while in the south.

Ardern would meet with Hicks and other Southland leaders of local government, business and Ngai Tahu at the Great South office in Invercargill on Monday morning.