Secrecy on aluminium subsidies to remain

TAXPAYER-funded subsidies to the aluminium industry will remain secret after the Victorian Government rejected a call for transparency from the state-appointed environmental watchdog. The proposal was part of last year's mammoth State of the Environment Report - the result of a five-year investigation that revealed degradation of Victoria's landscape and serious deficiencies in state policies. The Government yesterday rejected 14 of the recommendations by former commissioner for environmental sustainability Ian McPhail. Another 275 were supported or considered as policy development. Among those not supported was that the Government review and make public its energy subsidies, including revealing their impact on the state's greenhouse gas emissions. The recommendation was aimed at the aluminium sector, one of the country's most greenhouse-intensive industries. The Age last month revealed Alcoa smelters at Portland and near Geelong were likely to cost Victorians $4.5 billion by the time contracts expire in 2014 and 2016. The Government said energy contracts were commercial-in-confidence and established more than 20 years ago. It has rejected an Age freedom of information request for the Alcoa contracts on similar grounds. Environment Victoria chief executive Kelly O'Shannessy said the refusal to re-examine subsidies was a refusal to make tough environmental decisions. Recommendations that were supported included boosting environmental water flows and banning waste that could be recycled from going to landfill. Environment Minister Gavin Jennings said the report would provide a ''strong platform'' for Victoria to build on. Opposition environment spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge said the Government's response was ''bluster and bluff''.