Business leaders urge governments to act as smelter power deadline looms

Business leaders are urgently appealing to the Australian state and federal governments to intervene as Rio Tinto's deadline for a new power deal for its Bell Bay Aluminium smelter approaches. The smelter, a major employer in northern Tasmania with approximately 550 direct jobs, faces a "very high risk" of closure if a new power agreement isn't secured by the end of the month.

Rio Tinto's existing one-year power deal with state-owned Hydro Tasmania expires at the end of the year. Negotiations for a new contract have reportedly stalled, with Rio Tinto offering $60 million less than Hydro Tasmania's asking price. This uncertainty has prompted 13 industry and community leaders from northern Tasmania to send open letters to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, demanding urgent federal and state government action.

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We want to have the voices here of industry, unions and community, come together with business to say to our governments, 'this is critically important that you work together, you get a solution, and you get it)--(you get it done now,'

Susie Bower, chief executive of the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone, emphasized the critical importance of the smelter's future for Tasmania. "We want to have the voices here of industry, unions and community, come together with business to say to our governments, 'this is critically important that you work together, you get a solution, and you get it done now,'" Bower stated. She highlighted that Hydro Tasmania, being state-owned, is the key negotiation partner, but if a gap remains, the state government must involve the federal government to find a joint solution.

George Town Mayor Greg Kieser underscored the potentially devastating impact of the smelter's closure on the local community and Tasmania as a whole. "Both from the personal side and families who rely on that income, to the supply chain who rely on the business that keeps them viable," Kieser explained. He stressed that the economic repercussions, including the loss of rateable revenue, would create a significant hole for the region.

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Both from the personal side and families who rely on that income, to the supply chain who rely on the business that keeps them viable