Kiama MP Gareth Ward called on his own government to do more for steel procurement during a debate in NSW Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
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The debate was triggered by a steel procurement petition started in June this year.
The petition, presented to Illawarra MPs on September 17, attracted 15,300 signatures – well over the 10,000 required to trigger a debate.
Members of that campaign, including Ian Waters, Jason Leussink from Leussink Engineering and South Coast Labour Council Secretary Arthur Rorris were in the gallery for the debate.
"We are not out of the woods yet. We will be facing some of our greatest challenges.”
- Ryan Park
During the debate Mr Ward outlined several policy changes he wanted the government to consider.
These included looking at the “whole of life” costs when purchasing steel and also taking into account costs borne by Australian businesses – like workers compensation and payroll tax – when comparing cost with overseas suppliers.
He also wanted the government to use Australian steel in the Albion Park Rail Bypass, but did not specify a minimum figure.
Keira MP Ryan Park said, now that the steelworks was saved, more work needed to be done on procurement to ensure it stayed open.
”We are not out of the woods yet,” Mr Park said.
“We will be facing some of our greatest challenges.”
Wollongong MP Noreen Hay said the government’s offer of three years deferred payroll tax for BlueScope didn’t go far enough.
“It’s not a gift,” Ms Hay said.
“It’s not like the kind of contributions the workers have made, the sacrifices they have made – it’s a deferred payment.”
The only MP to put a specific figure on procurement was Shellharbour’s Anna Watson who called for a 90 per cent minimum of Australian steel.
“In my view, Australian steel making is a strategic industry sector,” she said.
“The only thing missing at this point is the political will to determine what the precise percentage target of Australian-made steel use in the state’s infrastructure projects will be.”
