NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has doubled down on the state government's call for the federal government to fund the majority of the Tomago Aluminium bailout package.
Negotiations between the state and federal governments and Tomago about the makeup of the package needed to support the smelter beyond 2028 have now been dragging on for six months.
At stake are the jobs of 1500 smelter workers and thousands of indirect jobs in the broader Hunter economy.
But the state government continues to resist pressure to enter into a 50-50 funding deal, which other states with energy-intensive smelters have agreed to.
"There's more work to do in these conversations, but I think the workers of Tomago and the wider Hunter Region should be assured that the federal government has been unambiguously clear that it is going to save the smelter and we (NSW) are absolutely going to be making a contribution," Mr Mookhey said.
He confirmed next week's budget would contain a contribution towards the bailout, which it is estimated could cost taxpayers between $300 million and $470 million a year over the next decade.
But, given the federal government collected 81 per cent of the nation's taxes, Mr Mookhey argued it was appropriate for it to do the majority of the heavy lifting.
"The truth is Canberra has much deeper pockets than we do; Canberra has by far most of the financial resources," he said.
"Much like we play the lead in a lot of areas which are our responsibilities, we welcome the fact that the commonwealth has made that commitment.
"We are absolutely holding the commonwealth's feet to the fire about keeping that commitment. We absolutely say that we will make a contribution, but the contribution we make does need to be proportionate to the resources we have relative to the resources they have."
Independent Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper recently spoke in support of the state government's position, and said an 80-20 funding split would be appropriate.
Mr Mookhey reiterated comments from Premier Chris Minns that the state was still waiting on key information about how much the state government would be expected to contribute.
"We need the federal government and the private owners of the smelter to provide us with a final and good definition of what it is that they're actually working through, so we can make appropriate judgement," he said.
A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Tim Ayres said discussions with Tomago and the state government were "ongoing, constructive and serious".
"The (federal) government has been clear about its objective: securing a long-term future for Tomago, its workers and the Hunter region," she said.
"Commonwealth, NSW and Tomago have a shared understanding of the challenge - securing reliable, affordable and cleaner power as coal exits the system.
"We are working through complex commercial and energy issues, which means it wouldn't be appropriate to negotiate through the media."
Tomago Aluminium operates as an independently managed joint venture between Rio Tinto (51.55 per cent), Gove Aluminium Finance Limited (36.05 per cent) and Hydro Aluminium (12.40 per cent)
