Labor has announced a six-point plan to encourage – but not mandate – the use of Australian steel in government projects through higher standards and considering a further crackdown on dumping.
The government has criticised the policy, saying it amounts to a backdown on comments by the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, last week, questioning what was wrong with mandating the use of Australian steel in government projects.
In Wollongong on Thursday Shorten and the opposition spokesman on industry, Kim Carr, said a Labor government would “ensure Australian standards are upheld in federal government-funded projects and support local producers to meet certification standards”.
Carr said imposing Australian standards on steel in government-funded projects when trialled in South Australia had seen the use of Australian steel grow from 40% to 91%.
Labor would “seek to maximise the use of locally produced steel in federal government-funded projects and put in place regular reporting of usage levels”.
The third prong of the policy would halve thresholds for projects which require Australian industry participation from $500m to $250m for private projects, and from $20m to $10m for public projects.
The remaining components would double funding for the Australian industry participation authority, create a national steel supplier advocate and “ensure Australia’s anti-dumping system has the right powers and penalties in place”.
When asked what maximising use of Australian steel meant, Shorten reiterated the plans to expand use of industrial participation plans and crack down on dumping.
“Each point of the plan represents the other,” he said.
In a statement Shorten and Carr said: “Steel is a strategically significant industry for Australia. We must not become the only advanced economy in the world to let our steel industry die.”
Australia’s steel industry was under significant pressure from low international prices, the high cost of raw materials, weak domestic demand and dumping of steel from overseas into the domestic market.
The announcement comes after Australian steel producer Arrium went into administration on Thursday, putting 8,000 jobs at risk.
“To secure the long-term future of our local metal industries, we need to make smart use of the opportunities in front of us and build on Australia’s natural strengths,” they said.
The innovation and industry minister, Christopher Pyne, said the policy amounted to a backdown:
Labor's steel policy - another board, a new public servant, motherhood statements, the dumping of his mandating policy within a week #auspol
— Christopher Pyne (@cpyne) April 14, 2016
Pyne said Shorten “hasn’t got the faintest clue what he’s talking about in terms of industry policy”.
“Last week he was insisting all government contracts for construction of steel be done by Australian steelmakers, creating a monopoly for construction steel and flat steel,” he said.
“The only losers out of that are the consumer, the taxpayers of Australia, and of course it is was likely to breach six free trade agreements.
“He’s wildly trying to come up with a new policy idea.”
Pyne said the government was bringing forward large construction projects such as the Adelaide-to-Tarcoola rail line and using anti-dumping powers to prevent unfair competition.
He wanted to encourage the local industry and said the government had had an industry participation policy for government procurement for many years: “None of these ideas are new ideas that Shorten and others have come up with.”
Shorten denied the steel policy amounted to an increase in red tape: “I believe our policy of maximising Australian steel will see great value for projects using Australian steel.”
