Aluminium industry backs energy target rethink

The aluminium industry has welcomed amendments to the Federal Government's renewable energy target legislation. The industry warned jobs could have been at risk at Gladstone, in central Queensland, and other smelters, if concessions were not granted to aluminium. Aluminium Council executive director Miles Prosser says changes negotiated between the Government and Opposition should reduce the impact on the industry. "The costs are still quite sizeable in magnitude but they have been reduced from what we were looking at a few days ago, so we hope it wouldn't have that impact in the same way that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme does," he said. "So it's really once we've got a clearer idea about what the costs will be from that scheme, it's the combined cost of the two schemes that's most important."