Unions push for Buy Australian act of Parliament

The 1933 Buy American Act was set up after the Depression to ensure that all goods for public use are purchased in the US and that all manufactured items are made out of US materials.

A loophole in that law was ratified last month involving greater transparency for waivers after the US Department of Defence used American taxpayer dollars to purchase $5 billion of goods and services from foreign companies ‘to the detriment of American business’.

The toughening of the law had bipartisan support.

South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris encouraged the region’s State and Federal Members of Parliament to commit to a similar law in Australia which would protect jobs from going overseas, including those within the domestic steel market.

The campaign is supported by a change.org petition (Port Kembla Steel: Buy it Here - Keep it Here) and a Facebook page - Save Our Steel in Port Kembla.

Under the protectionist measures Mr Rorris said at least 50 per cent of Australian steel would be used on state and federal government infrastructure projects.

‘‘No one in America has a problem with this law,’’ Mr Rorris said. ‘‘It has bipartisan support. Why can’t we have a Buy Australian act of Parliament? If the Americans can do it and they’ve been doing it for a long time, then so can we.’’

He added that the legislation would secure the future of Australian’s industrial and manufacturing base.

‘‘It doesn’t take Einstein to work out that an increase in the domestic demand for Port Kembla Steel would provide a real game changer, not a race to the bottom,’’ Mr Rorris said.

‘‘Just imagine railways, roads, hospitals, defence contracts all using Australian manufactured goods. No one can say that this is unrealistic...because we have many concrete examples of where this is happening. This campaign is just warming up. Seeing jobs disappear in front of our  eyes and the realisation that things could be different; I think creates a very healthy appetite for change.’’