An Illawarra union leader has told a federal parliamentary inquiry into government procurement that steel standards are only as good as their enforcement and confusion remains over the definition of ‘Australian-made steel’.
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The comments, made by South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris at the inquiry’s Melbourne hearing last week, came less than a fortnight after the NSW government announced measures to support the industry.
The state government’s procurement changes included mandating a new Australian standard in all its infrastructure tenders and publishing the amount of Australian steel used in projects via an online dashboard.
Mr Rorris told the joint select committee inquiry, examining the Commonwealth’s procurement framework, that “a standard is only as good as its ability to be enforced”.
“There has been welcome movement on the part of state governments, most recently NSW, on that question as well,” he said.
“We think the idea of having an Australian standard enforced is a no-brainer. Most people would assume that was already happening.”
Mr Rorris also used a Warrawong street signpost, marked that it was made in Vietnam, as an example of the need for a clearer definition of the term ‘Australian-made steel’.
The Mercury broke the story of the signpost, found in the laneway behind the suburb’s Open Hearth Hotel, earlier this month.
“Another issue to do with standards is the way in which the term ... 'Australian-made steel' is bandied around,” Mr Rorris told the hearing.
“There seems to be a lot of confusion and inconsistency in what is Australian-made steel.
“Is it the steel itself that comes out of those furnaces? Could it be imported steel that is fabricated in Australia? Is it a combination of the two? Is it marked?
“We had a recent case in Wollongong, within eyeshot of the steelworks, of street poles with 'made in Vietnam' on the side.
“Now, there may well be a good reason why they could not be made at BlueScope, but one would hope that with these sorts of changes, if they are implemented, you would have more of that product that can be made and tested in Australia.”