The federal government’s announcement of a A$600m rescue package for Glencore’s copper smelting and refining operations in Mount Isa and Townsville marks a definitive shift in Australia’s industry policy.

The announcement follows the $2.4bn rescue of the Whyalla steelworks, and a smaller assistance package for metals smelter Nyrstar.

At the time it was announced, the Whyalla rescue could be seen as a one-off special case. The steelworks’ owner, Sanjeev Gupta, had run into financial difficulties associated with the collapse of its major financier, Greensill Capital. The rescue plan included support for a transition from unsustainable blast furnace technology to “green steel”, though this remains problematic.

By contrast, Swiss giant Glencore is a highly profitable corporation that has made a business decision to close its copper operations. The bailout will keep those operations going for three years, after which the same issue will likely re-emerge.

In combination with the Nyrstar bailout, we now see an expectation that federal and state governments will undertake such rescues regularly, on a 50-50 cost-sharing basis.

This shift marks a final break with the policy framework (variously called “

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