WHAT'S THE SMELTER?

*The Tomago aluminium smelter is based in the NSW Hunter region, and employs about 1000 people

*The Rio Tinto-majority owned smelter accounts for about 12 per cent of the state's electricity demand

* It will get a $2.5 billion bailout paid jointly by the federal and NSW government over a 10-year period

* Tomago Aluminium has agreed to spend a further $1.1 billion to decarbonise and upgrade its facilities

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

* The move will keep the smelter operating beyond the expiry of its current supply contracts which end after 2028

* It follows other support packages such as the $2.4 billion lifeline for the Whyalla steelworks and $600 million for Glencore's Mount Isa copper smelter

* Unions have welcomed jobs for the regional centre's workers being saved

WHAT'S BEEN SAID?

* "The idea that we sit and allow this facility to just disappear would have had consequences. We cannot afford to be at the end of supply chains. We need to be a country that makes things." - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

* "It's too important in terms of sovereign capability, for local jobs, for ancillary jobs in the local region." - NSW Premier Chris Minns

* "The reason they are having to do this is because electricity prices are too high." - Opposition Leader Angus Taylor

* "Whatever you think about climate policy ... it's costing us a lot of money. And as we go down the path of intermittent power, whether it's Tomago, small businesses, large businesses, the one thing we have in common is insolvency and them leaving." - One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce