The battle to save Port Kembla steelworks has been bolstered by a union heavyweight who has suggested Illawarra steel be used to build the new $40 billion navy ship fleet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The federal government will build the fleet of frigates in Adelaide from 2020 and a fleet of offshore combatant vessels from 2018, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesday.
The start date for both projects was brought forward after pressure from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) assistant national secretary Glenn Thompson - who signalled the campaign to ensure Australian products were used in manufacturing was just heating up.
"This is one opportunity that the government needs to ensure local industry gets maximum local content opportunity including steel from Port Kembla," Mr Thompson told the Mercury.
"The government needs to put in place proper procurement mechanisms to ensure the steel industry has every opportunity to supply naval," Mr Thompson said.
Australian Workers Union Port Kembla branch secretary Wayne Phillips hailed as a great success the securing of the fleet construction on Australian soil and said the next obvious step was to make sure the ships were built with Australian steel.
"This is an opportunity for the federal government and in particular the Prime Minister to show his credentials on promoting and defending Australian industry," Mr Phillips said.
"He can do that by mandating Australian steel on the building of these ships and future submarine projects."
Mr Abbott said the government was announcing that the fleet would be built in Australia because "we have confidence that a restructured domestic surface naval ship-building industry can be competitive, can give us the best possible ships at the best possible price, maximising the local build".
He said there would be a "separate process" with regard to a fleet of 12 submarines that the government promised to build in South Australia before the election, but subsequently threatened to send overseas once in power.
Mr Thompson said the AMWU had been campaigning for more than two years about future surface war ships and submarines being built in Australia.
Delegates would spend next week in Canberra lobbying on behalf of members and the industry to secure these future vessels.
An industry report into the construction of 10 frigates in Australia between 1989 and 2005 showed the project generated between $200 million and $500 million in additional annual GDP.
Over the 15-year construction phase, that meant GDP would grow by at least $3 billion, the Tasman Asia Pacific report found.
The project generated about 7850 full-time equivalent jobs.
