1971: Tiwai Point
July 9, 2020
By AHNZ
Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is a Government programme of National 2.0. So is the Manapouri hydrodam powering it.
The dam was built by low-paid, slack, alcoholic, itinerant workers from overseas (eg. Tim Shadbolt and his brother.) That way New Zealanders would not have to be paid market rates to be employed in their own country according to the higher workplace standards!
The entire expensive setup dates from 1971 and there is no way of knowing if free people would have ever created it. To this day, Tiwai Point is subsidised by the New Zealand taxpayer in order to function and has been seeking even more of the same on threat of closure.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the company said its strategic review had “shown the business is no longer viable given high energy costs and a challenging outlook for the aluminium industry.”- Rio Tinto announces plans to close Tiwai Point smelter; RNZ, July 2020
Rio Tinto finally pulls pin on Tiwai Point smelter, which employs 2,600 directly and indirectly, uses 13 percent of NZ’s power and exports $1.2b of aluminium each year – newsroom.co.nz
Simply put, Tiwai/Manapouri is a State scheme to export energy for the benefit of politicians and foreigners but paid for involuntarily by Kiwis. It’s like a mosquito that you pay to bite you!
Hard negotiations between the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter and the ruling party in Government feature periodically in New Zealand history.
“Despite the heavily depressed market, the smelter company has continued with its New Zealand expansion programme and yesterday the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, opened the $237 million third plotline at Tiwai Pt.”
“Chairman of the smelter, “Mr Rayner said it reflected deep faith…Mr Muldoon acknowledged the smelter company’s “act of faith”..”- Smelter May Fail To Cover Its Costs– NZ Herald, 17 Nov, 1982
Each side threatens and bluffs in a political auction to decide how the loot shall be distributed. The plant is the goose that lays the golden/aluminium eggs. Some settlement will be reached that both can live with (for a while anyway) that the public will not be informed about but will suffer from.
Here are some more examples from a duel fought between the company and National 3.0 in 1982……
“Government advisers and the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter company are in sharp disagreement over an electricity tariff change which will add more than…”
“…an indirect tax on the smelter…”
“The disagreement emerged this week at the opening of the $237 million third potline at Tiwai Pt when chairman…Mark Rayner, said the electricity charge to the smelter must not be inflated…”
“The first step in the changed bulk tariff is expected to coincide with the next bulk electricity price adjustment, which in turn will not be until after the wage-price freeze ends.”
“The Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, said the smelter would not be exempted from the bulk tariff change.”- Bill Increase of $3 Million a Year – NZ Herald, 19 Nov, 1982
Today the foreign owners have gone as far as to set a date for closing the plant entirely in 14 months time! If this happens it will be a disaster for Southland’s economy. It will be the ripping away of an artificial life-support system in place for generations.
The one thing that might save it would be a National 6.0 Government this election. Tiwai Point and its appendages, it seems to me, has been a National Party organ of Crapitalism¹ and of no benefit to the Labour Governments. National 4.0 injected a $30 million bailout in 2013, for example, and National 2.0 initiated the scheme in the first place. Labour 6.0, on the other hand, have no trouble finding another $54 million for Crapitalist projects that belong to them such as Rotorua Museum.
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1 Aka Crony Capitalism
Note: It would be highly symmetrical if Mayor Shadbolt presided over the end of Tiwai Point since he was also there at the start; Ref. Previous Post
Image ref. Bluffing in Bluff (2013:) Mark Winter; Alexander Turnbull Library
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