The Tasmanian government has called on the federal government to match its multi-billion dollar support deal for New South Wales’ Tomago smelter with an equivalent funding commitment for Northern Tasmania’s Bell Bay Aluminium smelter.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Minister for Business, Industry and Resources Felix Ellis criticised the federal government following its joint AU$2.5 billion rescue package with the NSW government to repower the Tomago facility near Newcastle.
Premier Rockliff stated that Tasmanian industrial workers deserve the same backing as their counterparts in New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland.
“If there is a billion dollars for Tomago, there is money for Tasmania,” Rockliff said, emphasising that the Commonwealth must return to the negotiating table to safeguard national manufacturing sovereignty.
Bell Bay Aluminium holds a landmark place in Australian industrial history. Established in 1955, it was the first aluminium smelter constructed in the Southern Hemisphere, originally built to end the nation’s reliance on imported metals.
The Rio Tinto-operated facility produces around 178,000 tonnes of aluminium annually and remains one of Tasmania’s primary industrial employers and energy users, drawing on the state’s renewable hydroelectric network.
The smelter is facing the risk of closure ahead of a December 31 power contract expiration.
Minister Ellis urged the federal government to clarify why mainland smelters are receiving direct interventions while Bell Bay is expected to proceed without matching support.
He noted that Tasmania had submitted a formal proposal under the Commonwealth’s Green Aluminium Credit Scheme, but alleged that federal ministers had subsequently altered the program’s requirements.
“Just as Tomago is too important to lose, Bell Bay is also too important to ignore,” Ellis said, calling on federal representatives to back the region.
The state government reaffirmed its intention to lobby Canberra aggressively to secure a long-term co-investment framework, ensuring Bell Bay receives equitable support to maintain its smelting operations and protect skilled regional jobs.
