State Labor has called on the NSW government to begin revitalising the state's manufacturing sector by supporting legislation proposed to prioritise locally made or sourced products.
Deputy leader Yasmin Catley and Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp launched the party's "NSW Made" policy in the Hunter on Thursday.
The policy, supported by the NSW Jobs First Bill introduced last month, would compel government departments and agencies to spend taxpayer money on locally procured goods and services to drive job creation and support the NSW economy.
After touring Lovells Springs in Carrington yesterday, Ms Catley said the bill would restore manufacturing and design capacity across the state by incentivising local materials, construction and professional services in major procurement projects.
"We need to ensure that every time the government builds a new school or a new hospital, and whenever they build new trains or ferries, they have to think locally and use local supply chains," she said.
"We have world-class engineering expertise ... highly skilled, advanced manufacturers ready to do this work.
"It also requires the use of local apprentices, trainees and cadets for at least 10 per cent of the work hours on a major project."
Lovells Springs is Australia's last remaining manufacturer of industrial springs and will soon celebrate its 90th birthday.
Owner Simon Crane said he had watched the national industry dwindle over the years and been forced to diversify his business to prosper.
"When I was in manufacturing as a young man, Australia's GDP - 30 per cent of it was manufacturing - and we've gone to five," he said.
"We are actually below a lot of third-world countries in terms of our manufacturing capability and capacity as a proportion of our GDP.
"It's awful for me to have watched in my 40-year career in manufacturing."
Mr Crakanthorp said the state government had sent billions of dollars offshore.
"This can't go on. If this government has any respect for [NSW] manufacturers they will support this bill."
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