Smelter's $30M sweetener came down to scale, says PM

Mon, 12 Aug 2013

By Pattrick Smellie Aug 12 (BusinessDesk) - The only reason the government offered $30 million to Rio Tinto to keep the Bluff aluminium smelter open was because it is such a large part of the economy, Prime Minister John Key says. Asked at his weekly press conference why the government hadn't supported other industries threatening to close, such as KiwiRail's Hillside workshops, Key said: "It simply comes down to scale." "We believe Rio Tinto want to remain a long term participant at Tiwai Point," he said. "They were the ones who wanted to...

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