Greenpeace is disappointed that Jacinda Ardern is buckling under pressure from Rio Tinto to provide cheap power for its Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter. The environmental organisation says the deal needs to come with strings attached.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
The Labour Party announced today that, if elected, it would negotiate a deal with Rio Tinto for it to keep producing aluminium at Tiwai Point for the next three to five years. Labour says this is a stop-gap measure as it plans for a Just Transition that would create new jobs in Southland, following the smelter owner\u2019s announcement that it would be quitting the region.<\/p>\n\n
Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, Amanda Larsson, says it\u2019s disappointing to see the Labour Party buckling under the same pressure that National did less than ten years ago.<\/p>\n\n
In 2013, the smelter received a $30 million subsidy from the Key government. Subsequent Government Ministers from both National and Labour have told Rio Tinto not to expect more handouts. Today\u2019s announcement is a u-turn on this policy.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRio Tinto is one of the world\u2019s most profitable companies, and yet, every three years or so, it holds New Zealand jobs to ransom to get Government handouts and cheap power prices,\u201d says Larsson.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cUltimately it\u2019s the rest of New Zealand that has to pay for Rio Tinto\u2019s bargain-bin power prices – either through household energy bills or through their taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Larsson says Rio Tinto is a polluting company that has refused to take responsibility for its impact on the environment and local communities.<\/p>\n\n
Three senior Rio Tinto executives were recently forced to resign after the company destroyed a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in the company\u2019s home country, Australia, causing an international outcry and prompting a board investigation. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cHere in New Zealand, Rio Tinto has refused to deal with 8,500 tonnes of toxic waste stored in the Mataura paper mill, risking Southland\u2019s environment and people\u2019s health,\u201d says Larsson.<\/p>\n\n
The company is also subsidised for its climate emissions through a 90 percent free allocation under the Emissions Trading Scheme. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of a climate crisis and Rio Tinto has been given a free pass to spew climate pollution into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAny Government support for Tiwai needs to have strings attached. Rio Tinto must be required to properly deal with its toxic waste for good. The smelter also needs to start paying for its carbon pollution, like other companies do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Larsson says if Labour is in Government next term, it must ensure this deal is the Government\u2019s last with Rio Tinto.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIf Labour is serious about a just transition plan for Southland, they need to create new employment opportunities now, so that massive corporations can\u2019t just keep holding jobs to ransom in exchange for more Government handouts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
ENDS<\/strong> Greenpeace is disappointed that Jacinda Ardern is buckling under pressure from Rio Tinto to provide cheap power for its Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter. The environmental organisation says the deal needs to come with strings attached. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"Tiwai deal must come with strings attached -","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[29],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-14716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-clean-energy","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\n
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