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Australia politics live: Rio Tinto given $2.5bn bailout for Australia’s largest aluminium smelter; tech giants face law to pay for news content
Shadow housing minister defends speech after criticism move would lock disadvantaged into skyrocketing power bills. Follow today’s news live
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Yesterday Andrew Bragg announced he would strip the 2,000 page national housing code down to just 80 pages, removing most standards outside health, fire safety and essential structural requirements.
It caused a furore among some including the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss), who said it would lock renters into skyrocketing power bills to keep their homes inhabitable.
RN Breakfast host Sally Sara asks Bragg if his policy means low-income earners should just accept that they will live in substandard housing. “Yes, definitely”, he replies.
Aluminium smelter bailout to cost taxpayers $2.5b over 10 years
Rio Tinto, the owner of the Tomago Aluminium smelter, previously threatened to close it due to rising energy costs. (ABC Newcastle: Anthony Scully)
The New South Wales and federal governments have agreed to spend $2.5 billion dollars over 10 years to secure the future of Australia's largest aluminium smelter, Tomago Aluminium.
The smelter's owner, Rio Tinto, threatened closure from 2029 amid the rising cost of renewable and coal-fired power.
The prime minister and NSW premier are expected to visit the smelter in the NSW Hunter region on Thursday morning.
A bailout of the country's largest aluminium smelter will cost taxpayers $2.5 billion dollars, with the New South Wales and federal governments expected to split the bill down the middle.
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Labor announces $2.5b bailout for Tomago aluminium smelter
The Tomago aluminium smelter will get a $2.5 billion, 10-year bailout paid for by federal and NSW taxpayers in a deal that will also involve a $1.1 billion facility upgrade by Rio Tinto.
Tomago employs about 1000 people and accounts for 12 per cent of NSW’s electricity demand. In December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would keep the smelter operating beyond the expiry of its current electricity supply contracts on December 31, 2028.
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