Meridian on Rio Tinto we're not dealing with Grandma

Thu, 28 Mar 2013

Comment by Pattrick Smellie March 29 (BusinessDesk) - Even before the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter opened in 1972, it was the subject of the same controversy now playing out. Right from the word go, governments have capitulated to hard-ball Aussie corporates - first Comalco, now Rio Tinto - who only ever invested in converting Aussie bauxite to metal because we promised them cheap electricity. That power is nominally sourced from Lake Manapouri and was one of Rob Muldoon's first Think Big projects. For many years, just how little the smel...

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