Queensland Government to Subsidise Struggling Smelter Amid Net Zero Transition

The Queensland goverment will ensure the viability of Australia’s second-largest aluminium smelter near Gladstone as it transitions to renewable energy.

A worker checks rolls of sheet aluminium at a factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on May 8, 2021. STR/China OUT/AFP via Getty Images

The Queensland government has agreed to partner with mining giant Rio Tinto to support the transition of its Boyne aluminium smelter in the industrial city of Gladstone as it transitions to using renewable energy from 2029.

It will provide economic support through its “Energy and Jobs Plan.”