Australia politics live: NSW to compel oil companies to explain where extra petrol being sent; Rio Tinto aluminium smelter gets $2bn bailout

Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe government has announced the federal and Queensland governments will each chip in $1bn to Rio Tinto’s Boyne aluminium smelter in central Queensland, to keep it viable into the future.The government says the move, which will include Rio “underwriting significant investment in energy and transmission”, will unlock almost $7.5bn in investment in Queensland.With a considerable public investment, we are catalysing a fourfold private investment that will build out the renewable energy grid and keep thousands of good regional jobs in central Queensland. Continue reading...