NZ PM seeks to extend Rio Tinto smelter operations by 3-5 years

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that she will negotiate to extend the operations of Rio Tinto's aluminium smelter in the country by 3-5 years. The company would have to clean up the site, stay open for an agreed time, and maintain employment. Now what we're doing here is making sure that we have an opportunity for our workforce to transition to new opportunities that include the potential for green energy.

Ardern said in an announcement as she campaigns for re-election in polls next month, we are seeking to extend the life of the smelter between 3 to 5 years...,.We will all benefit from having additional time and a managed exit from Tiwai Point. What we are asking is that Transpower will go into negotiations with Rio Tinto around the way that they deploy their line charges.

Greenpeace executive director Russell Norman said, Rio Tinto just keep coming back and back and back and back and back for more and more taxpayer subsidies and it looks like it's going to get away with it again.

And Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Amanda Larsson said in the statement Rio Tinto is being subsidised for its climate emissions and is refusing to take responsibility for its impact on the environment and local communities. We're in the middle of a climate crisis and Rio Tinto has been given a free pass to spew climate pollution into the atmosphere. The smelter also needs to start paying for its carbon pollution, like other companies do.

Rio Tinto said in July it was closing its aluminium smelter in Tiwai Point due to high costs and a challenging market, putting over a thousand jobs on the line and dealing a blow to the country's top power producers.

However Jacinda Ardern is being accused of buckling under pressure from Rio Tinto to do a deal.