Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has backed Labor’s call for federal, state and territory infrastructure projects to purchase Australian steel, although Treasurer Scott Morrison warned mandating the change would breach international trade agreements.
Arrium’s collapse into voluntary administration has sparked a political firefight over the future of another of Australia’s foundation manufacturing industries — in particular the South Australian industrial centre of Whyalla, where Arrium operates a steelworks.
Bill Shorten yesterday said a future Labor government would mandate use of Australian steel for infrastructure projects — a move Mr Morrison branded a “negative, kneejerk” policy that would “tear up our free trade agreements”.
However Mr Pyne, asked today about Labor’s ambition, said he “couldn’t agree more” and described the matter as “beyond politics”.
“State and territory governments using federal taxpayers’ dollars for construction, and any federal government projects, should use Australian steel,” he told the Nine Network.
“Sometimes it’s not always exactly possible — we don’t always make every kind of steel — but where we do, we should be allowed to compete.”
Mr Morrison said the government would consult with Arrium and bring forward federal government steel orders and increase enforcement of anti-dumping rules, but ruled out mandatory procurement of the kind advocated by Mr Shorten.
“Those trade agreements are providing jobs in the new economy and the service economy and these are important considerations that you have to take into account,” he told ABC radio.
“You don’t get involved in a kneejerk reaction, the sort of thing that says: ‘let’s tear up our trade agreements; let’s tear up the jobs in the new economy to go and play politics with an issue in South Australia’.”
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo agreed with Mr Morrison, saying Mr Shorten’s policy was “actually in direct breach of quite a number of our trade agreements that we have in place”.
“A policy that would threaten the jobs of Aussie workers, who work for businesses that currently export to foreign governments and foreign public services,” he said.
Mr Pyne said the government had already announced $80 million in steel orders from Arrium’s Whyalla Steelworks by bringing forward the upgrade of 600km of rail line between Adelaide and Tarcoola in the far north of the state, and further work come from the production of new warships.
“If (opposition infrastructure spokesman) Anthony (Albanese) has got suggestions about other projects we can bring forward in rail, I would be very keen to talk to him about it because it’s beyond politics,” he said.
Mr Albanese and Mr Pyne agreed it was a “bipartisan position” that the managers of Arrium had “clearly stuffed this up” and the focus should be on supporting the company’s workers and their families.
Mr Pyne yesterday said Labor’s policy of mandating use of Australian steel in government projects would giving Arrium an effective monopoly supplying construction steel to government.
“A monopoly means they can charge whatever price they want, and that means the Australian taxpayer could in theory be fleeced by the steel industry because there’s no competitive tension,” he said.
“It’s the kind of irresponsible economic policy I expect from Bill Shorten and the Labor Party.”
Source: The Australian