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New Zealand First wants workers and management to come together to take over the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter.
Many Maori work at the smelter and New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says it makes sense to support them rather than multi-national corporate Rio Tinto which has already received billions of dollars in subsidies including $30 million in the last three years.
"This staff and management produced the finest aluminium in the world and it is how should I say it … viable and sound business for us to use cheap power to support our own business. It doesn't make too much sense to support some foreign owned business" he says.
Winston Peters says Rio Tinto will have to pay hundreds of millions to restore the Tiwai Point site if the just announced short term deal with power provider Meridian Energy deal to keep the Smelter going doesn't work out and the best solution may be for them to just walk away and let workers and management take-over.
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