The Labour Party and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union rounded on the Government for not backing the state-owned enterprise.
It follows criticism last week that the Government paid Australian mining giant Rio Tinto $30 million, plus concessions, to keep the loss-making Tiwai Point aluminium smelter operating.
''The Government needs to explain why the publicly owned Huntly power station is importing Indonesian coal while miners are being laid off across town,'' EPMU national secretary Bill Newson said.
Solid Energy first revealed its massive financial predicament last August, largely due to plunging global coal prices.
It booked a $40 million loss and revealed almost $400 million of debt, much of it from expensive, alternative energy, research and development projects and Southland farmland acjquisition.
The state-owned enterprise has since cut staff by about 700.
Labour's state-owned enterprise spokesman, Clayton Cosgrove, accused the Government yesterday of being ''asleep at the wheel'', with Solid Energy having given out $23 million in bonuses, plus spending on lobbyists, cars and overseas travel.
''[Government] Ministers received month-to-month reports that said the company was in deep financial strife, yet they did nothing,'' Mr Cosgrove said in a statement.
A short-term Government loan of about $100 million is still under negotiation with the coal company's bankers, to keep it operational.
About 12 months ago, Huntly East employed 234 people, which was then cut back to 171. Yesterday's proposed redundancies would reduce staffing to about 86.
The West Coast remains the hardest hit, where more than 300 jobs have been lost during the past year at Spring Creek and Stockton. Solid Energy chairman Mark Ford said it was continuing to review all aspects of its business in response to the downturn in international coal prices, and its high debt level.
''Because our two largest customers have the ability to import coal, the international thermal coal price effectively caps the price we can get for our North Island product in the North Island and, as a result, the cost of production,'' Mr Ford said in a statement.
Given global prices and Solid Energy's need to generate cash and not incur further debt, the economics of mining underground at Huntly East did not justify keeping the operation going at present levels, he said.
