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Download AudioRegional Development and Associate Energy Minister Minister Shane Jones wants to see the former Marsden Point refinery as the centre of a broad energy precinct.
As part of the coalition agreement with New Zealand First, government is looking at whether it’s possible to reopen the refinery, which was closed two years ago when its owners decided to shift the business to fuel importation.
Mr Jones says much of its value comes from being beside a deep water port.
“We should contemplate having a dedicated energy precinct there with bespoke legislation, a variety of incentives that if you invest, if you develop and if you locate your enterprises both from overseas and domestically, then we will create a satellite productivity and investment in that particular part of New Zealand,” he says.The concept would include completing the extension of the railway line to the port, which has been held up in the consent process.
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