Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to say that a Shorten Labor government will have a plan for the steel industry. It is the only party in this place that will have one. It is a tough plan—a plan that has faith in the future of this industry. We will crack down on dumping with antidumping legislation to ensure the countries around the world who are producing subsidised steel in excess of needs are not dumping it into our markets and destroying our local jobs and industries. We will be putting in place tough standards to ensure that government projects are complying with Australian standards. We will be ensuring that there are industry participation plans so that when we have large jobs—whether they are government funded, defence contracts or other jobs—we will ensure that local contractors get a crack at winning that business. We will also ensure that there is a steel industry advocate which will be out there advocating for the interests of the industry.

I was very pleased to be there when the Leader of the Opposition announced this new steel industry policy at BlueScope's Port Kembla plant. It was a signal that Labor has faith in the future of the company and in the future of the industry. It did not pass anybody's attention that the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and the Prime Minister have not yet visited Illawarra and the Port Kembla BlueScope plant, despite all the troubles and all of the issues that are going on within the industry. (Time expired)