Remediation guesswork in Tiwai talks

Remediation guesswork in Tiwai talks
Gavin Evans
Talks to extend the shutdown of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter appear to be stuck over the hard-to-quantify costs for remediating the site.The government has been negotiating with smelter operator Rio Tinto in a bid to keep the plant – NZ’s biggest electricity user and the biggest employer in Southland – operating for another three to five years. Those talks appear to not have made much ground since the October election, with Finance Minister Grant Robertson acknowledging a week ago that remediation remained an issue f...

More Infrastructure

Could your KiwiSaver soon own your local water system?
Finance

Could your KiwiSaver soon own your local water system?

Founder Sam Stubbs says 90% of Kiwis back the idea of owning local utilities.

Big names for Wellington Water board
Finance

Big names for Wellington Water board

Credit rating agency warns that water reforms are no council debt panacea.

Pattrick Smellie 31 Oct 2025
US$411b on the table: will NZ claim a slice?
Primary Sector

US$411b on the table: will NZ claim a slice?

Infrastructure will be a major focus of the NZ EU Summit, but Ukraine might be too.

Dileepa Fonseka 24 Oct 2025
Wellington Airport's half-year passenger numbers down, net loss up
Infrastructure

Wellington Airport's half-year passenger numbers down, net loss up

A fall in domestic passenger numbers has been blamed on Air NZ's fleet problems.

Staff reporters 23 Oct 2025