General News
9 October, 2025
WHAT THEY SAID: 'This proposal is a Band-Aid on a compound fracture'
Hear from the major players in the region regarding Wednesday's announcement on the Mount Isa copper smelter.
It was announced on Wednesday that the state and federal governments will put up as much as $600 million to keep Glencore’s Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery running for the next three years.
Glencore announced it had reached a heads of agreement after months of talks with both levels of government, providing greater certainty for 600 copper processing workers and their families.
The parties would now begin discussions to finalise a detailed formal agreement, it said.
Here's what all of the region's major players had to say about the announcement ...
Troy Wilson | Glencore Metals Australia interim chief operating officer
This agreement provides a short-term lifeline for the copper smelter and refinery, and comes after Glencore had already stepped up to absorb significant financial losses to maintain operations and jobs while working on a solution with government.
On behalf of Glencore and our workers, I would like to express thanks to the Australian and Queensland governments for backing the region and these strategic assets with a critical support package.
In particular, I want to sincerely thank our workforce, whose commitment and resilience over the past eight months has been outstanding.
Copper is a critical metal for the future. Competition in the global copper smelting market is fierce and it’s not a level playing field with various countries seeking to secure substantial market positions.
We support the Australian and Queensland governments’ push to develop policies which enable critical metals processing to continue in Australia, backed by a mining sector that makes a significant contribution to the economy and supported by affordable and reliable energy.
Glencore has demonstrated its commitment to sustaining copper processing operations and preserving jobs by absorbing material financial losses.
It is our hope that conditions improve over the next three years to a point where government assistance is no longer necessary.
Glencore would also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Mount Isa City Council, Australian Workers Union (AWU) and Townsville Enterprise Limited for championing solutions to benefit the whole region.
Tim Ayres | Federal Minister for Industry
The Albanese government will always stand up for Australian industry and workers.
This funding will protect Mount Isa’s workforce and regional Queensland industries, while reinforcing the need to deliver good skilled jobs to deliver a Future Made in Australia.
Copper is critical to building solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage systems.
This investment strengthens our supply chains and supports Australia’s transition to net zero.
If Australia didn’t already have established facilities like the Mount Isa Copper Smelter, we’d be looking to build them to protect Australia’s industrial capability, and strengthen the capability needed for future.
The Albanese Labor government will hold Glencore to account, ensuring they uphold their commitments in this arrangement.
Glencore has a crucial role to play in the future of the smelter and an obligation to the community and their workers, and the government has high expectations that they will continue to collaborate effectively.
Dale Last | State Minister for Natural Resources and Mines
The deal demonstrates the Crisafulli government’s commitment to ensuring Queensland is the world leader in resources and minerals processing.
The Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville copper refinery are cornerstones of our economy that support not only 600 direct jobs, but thousands of jobs across the regional supply chain, including the Phosphate Hill fertiliser plant.
This deal supports those jobs, restores confidence and delivers North and North-West Queenslanders a better lifestyle through a stronger economy.
We’ve worked tirelessly to deliver a result that is financially responsible, delivers value for taxpayers, holds Glencore to account, and most importantly, gives certainty to families and supports Mount Isa’s future.
The Queensland government will provide funding for capital infrastructure works that support smelter operations at Mount Isa.
This joint package is an injection of confidence in Queensland’s copper supply chain, from the contractors and suppliers in Mount Isa, the workers at Phosphate Hill, to the emerging copper projects north of Cloncurry and the port workers in Townsville.
At the forefront of this deal are the boiler makers, the diesel fitters, the technicians and the contractors who make these facilities tick.
This deal is about standing with them, because we back Mount Isa, we back our metals processing sector and we back the hard-working Queenslanders who keep our economy strong.
Robbie Katter | Member for Traeger/KAP leader
This is a start and it’s at least reassuring us that our critical sovereign capability needs to be preserved.
Let’s be clear – we’re only at half time. There’s no champagne and celebrations at half time, just a rev up from the coach to go out and finish the job in the premiership half.
North Queensland, from Townsville to Mount Isa, and indeed Australian industry need confidence that we will keep the ability to make things ourselves and not be beholden to overseas interests.
The federal government in particular have recognised the strategic importance of keeping the smelter operating, and we need them to remain at the negotiating table to reform the smelter operations, not just continually save it and leaving it in the hands of the one owner,” the KAP leader said.
The negotiations to keep 17,000 jobs across the region came after Glencore announced the closure of the Mount Isa Copper Mine in 2023, despite copper being touted as ‘the new oil’ with the loss of 1,200 Mount Isa jobs.
Both levels of government can surely now see that Glencore are not operating in Australia for Australia’s best interest – they are only in it for their shareholders and the global commodity trading board in Switzerland.
The Premier has said that he and his government will ‘not rule anything out’ when it comes to keeping Queensland’s copper manufacturing capacity – well now is the time to step up and ensure we keep that into the future, well past 2-3 years.
There are real solutions, including equity share structures that Glencore have publicly stated they would be open to, available to secure the long-term capability and provide confidence to all miners in the resource-rich North West Minerals Province – we just need all levels of government to have some aspiration for our nation and our state.
With dollars now on the line, I’m heartened to see the federal and state governments are beginning to see the opportunity in the North West Minerals Province; now is the time to make sure that’s money well spent – to set up for the future, not get ready for the next round of bail out negotiations with a commodity trader who is un-Australian as they come.
Bob Katter | Member for Kennedy
We must put on record our appreciation of the involvement by the Minister (Ayres).
Robbie Katter said the Premier too has been helpful, but this game is not over.
It is just starting. This proposal is a Band-Aid on a compound fracture. It might staunch the bleeding but it ain’t going to fix your leg.
We must thank all the people who came to our meetings and put shoulder to the wheel here. Thank you to all fighters for their role in achieving this stay of execution, particularly the Mayor of Mount Isa, Peta McRae, Townsville Enterprise Limited, CEO, Claudia Brunne Smith, Paul Farrow from the AWU, Maria James, CEO of MITEZ and all those other fighters who have not slept a wink over the past few months in their effort to save our town and Townsville’s industrial base.
To Glencore I say congratulations for out-negotiating not one government, but two. I take my hat off to them, these two governments have made a $600m bet that Queensland’s minerals economy is going to be much stronger by the time the next election comes around. How convenient.
Another phrase comes to mind. Danegeld. For those that aren’t familiar with this, it was a tax levied by the Anglo-Saxons to pay off Viking invaders of England.
We will eager learn more about this ‘transition authority’ they have proposed.
We are pleased to be fighting another day but are fired up by this decision and it has made us more aggressively and relentless on pursuing a reserve resource policy for gas.
A $600 million Band-Aid is helpful, but we need an outcome that solves the source of the problem.
Look, I thank the federal Minister who really has been very good to deal with on the Mount Isa smelter, but unless he makes Reserve Resource Policy his next item, we are doomed and Glencore will continue to seek bailouts, after bailouts, just as they did in 2016 and 2020 and have again now.
Peta MacRae | Mayor of Mount Isa City Council
It's a great day for Mount Isa. Not only for all the workers, but for anyone that owns a property between here and Townsville and our whole small business community.
I know the community is relieved with this announcement
We are thankful the federal and state governments were able to collaborate with Glencore on this funding package and are eager to see the continuous investment in Mount Isa, our future-ready economy, our diverse industries, and the North West Province.
While this gives relief in the immediate future, we will not stop pushing for more investment and opportunities to support the North West and our community.
Claudia Brumme-Smith | CEO, Townsville Enterprise
It’s great news for Townsville and for Mount Isa, but I think it's great news for all of Australia with the announcement that the government is making.
The federal and state governments are working together hand in hand to rescue and support the further development of these assets here in North Queensland.
It also means we're keeping copper in our country, because the smelter processes over 17 different mines in Mount Isa, and then they come here as the refinery processes and then shipped out of the Port of Townsville.
I think this was the best news to wake up to, and again, we can't thank the two governments and Glencore enough.
I know these were hard negotiations. There's a lot of opinions out there, but what it means for us in North Queensland is we are seeing the 17,000 jobs in our region sustained and it also means manufacturing investors are looking at Townsville and North Queensland again from an opportunity point of view.
So this news today is saving existing industries, but it also gives hope for the new industries that are definitely wanting to come to Australia and to North Queensland.
We continue to advocate for what's right for our region. We know that Incitec Pivot and Phosphate Hill is an asset to keep in the region.
I think advocacy never stops, but manufacturing, for us, as a town and as a region, still by value, is the number one output.
Phosphate Hill owner Dyno Nobel (spokesperson)
Dyno Nobel welcomes the announcement of a support package from the Australian and Queensland governments to underpin the continued operation of Glencore’s Mount Isa smelter.
Dyno Nobel is looking forward to engaging with Glencore over the coming weeks to understand the impact of the deal reached on its manufacturing operations at Phosphate Hill.
Further to Dyno Nobel’s announcement dated 1 October 2025, securing the economic supply of natural gas as well as continuity of supply of metallurgical gas from the Glencore smelter are critical to the future of Phosphate Hill and are necessary conditions to attract a qualified buyer.
This continues to be the case.
We will continue to work with the Queensland and Australian governments to pursue a solution to the critical variables in collaboration with the Commonwealth and Queensland governments.