Mr Scully noted that a shipload of wind turbine towers headed for Yass came through the port of Port Kembla and were carted past the steelworks.

He said Victoria chose to use local steel to build structures like this and, with the state budget coming in November, encouraged the NSW government to follow suit.

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"I remind government members that every $1 million of Port Kembla steel sold supports up to 16 full-time equivalent jobs," Mr Scully said.

"So why would the government not use it in every school, hospital, road, bridge and renewable energy project underwritten by NSW taxpayers?

"Start with the lifts at Unanderra and Towradgi stations. There is nothing stopping a budget allocation in November to get these upgrades under way."

Another way to help the region, he said, would be to "progress important initiatives in our city".

This included the detailed design work for the Wollongong Entertainment Centre and upgrading Picton Road to motorway standard.

The MP did mention the government's decision to build a new Shellharbour Hospital, but added it had been a long time coming.

"It is a decision that comes five years after the same government tried to privatise the hospital, and five years before the new hospital opens," he said.

"A decade will have come and gone before the new hospital admits a patient."

The government shouldn't stop at Shellharbour, he said, but look at improving other areas of the region's health infrastructure.

This included upgrading the "ailing" Port Kembla Hospital along the same lines as Bulli, and spending the $1 million needed to refurbish the so-called "ghost ward" at Wollongong Hospital.

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