Businesses celebrate Tiwai announcement

Thursday, 14 January 2021

McCallums Group managing director Wayne McCallum.

Wayne McCallum plans a celebration after getting news the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will remain open for four more years.

McCallum is the managing director of McCallums Group, an Invercargill company which relies on the smelter for about 20 per cent of its work.

McCallums Group, already hit hard by the international borders being shut to overseas visitors, rents 4700 workforce garments to the smelter and cleans more than 3000 of the garments every week.

If the smelter had closed in August 2021, as Rio Tinto had earlier indicated, McCallum would have struggled to find work for six staff members dedicated to its Tiwai work.

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“One of the ladies who works here said, thank God, I will be able to pay my mortgage off in that four years. The relief on her face was just incredible.”

The four years gave him time to adapt and redeploy staff to other areas when the smelter did eventually close, he said.

The news was also welcomed by Ryan Harvey, the engineering operations manager of Invercargill based Sheet Metalcraft which does work for the smelter.

“It's a great day for Southland,” he said.

Harvey said the feeling at his workplace was one of relief.

“My wife works [at Tiwai] so it’s a good day for her as well. She's relieved.”

Invercargill real estate agent Sean Bellew said many Tiwai workers had kept out of the housing market while the plant's future was uncertain.

“I believe this news will add volume to the market, these people will realise they have got job security … so they will come back to the market.”

Bellew said a Tiwai employee was in his office soon after the announcement saying he was ready to build a house given he had job security.

The news also gave people in the real estate industry confidence to continue spending, “and that's the ripple effect it has … it makes the city prosper”.

Invercargill Licensing Trust chief executive Chris Ramsay said the Tiwai announcement meant large scale developments due to open in the next 18 months, including the Langlands Hotel, now had a more positive short term outlook.

“The obvious challenge now is to find a replacement for Tiwai that secures the long term future for our community, and having time to find that alternative opportunity is very positive.”