Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson has called on Greens NSW MP John Kaye to explain how a bill that boasts the 100 per cent use of Australian-made steel in government-funded infrastructure projects can also contain exemptions.

Dr Kaye launched a discussion draft of the Greens’ Steel Industry Protection Bill 2015 during a visit to the Illawarra last week. 

The legislation would ensure, as far as practicable, all steel used in government-funded infrastructure projects is made in Australia. 

The Protection Bill excludes “products that cannot be reasonably made in Australia or from Australian steel”. 

Ms Watson recently stood alone to support a 90 per cent steel-use mandate.

Not all steel required for projects is manufactured at the Port Kembla steelworks or in Australia.

The Labor MP said the steel bill “doesn’t place a specific 100 per cent figure anywhere”, but does list exemptions. 

“This is another case of the Greens Party using the steel crisis for political partisanship and fuelling misleading media coverage rather than being honest with steel workers, unions and the community in the Illawarra,” she said. 

Dr Kaye welcomed Ms Watson’s input and reiterated the bill was a consultation draft at this stage, with three months to be spent gathering public comment. 

“The choice was between a 90 per cent target and a 100 per cent target with exemptions for those products that could not be made in Australia at a reasonable cost,” he told the Mercury. 

“On advice, we went with the tougher target because we were concerned 90 per cent would be hard to enforce and vulnerable to rorting.”  “The only steel products of any significance that cannot be made in Australia at a reasonable cost are the nuts and bolts. By weight, they make up a very small proportion of the total steel used in public infrastructure.”