Bill Shorten’s giant steel backflip

Bill Shorten has performed an embarrassing backflip on his plans to mandate steel purchases in Australia, which was to put at risk our vital free trade agreements.

Only last week Bill Shorten and Labor were calling for the mandating of Australian steel for all Australian projects. Now he has retreated from these economically reckless comments in his announcement today.

Bill Shorten’s steel backflip shows that he simply cannot be trusted with the Australian economy.

The best thing that Bill Shorten can do for the Australian steel industry is to abandon his economically reckless plans to re-introduce Julia Gillard’s carbon tax which hit Australian manufacturing for an extra $1.1 billion.

Further to this, part of Bill Shorten’s plan is to appoint a public servant as an advocate for the steel industry. However it is the job of the Industry Minister to be steel’s strongest champion. The last thing the workers of Arrium and Bluescope steel need is yet another public servant in Canberra.

Only the Turnbull Government can be trusted to manage the economy and to create jobs and growth for Australians.

This latest blunder show how economically illiterate Bill Shorten and his Labor team are when it comes to economic matters

The Turnbull Government has been acting decisively to help the Australian steel industry, including:

o Repealing of the carbon tax.

o The Prime Minister’s announcement on 9 March 2016 that the Government will bring forward a project to upgrade 600 kilometres of rail line between Adelaide and Tarcoola. The Australian Rail Track Corporation will partner with Arrium to deliver the upgrade, substantially boosting demand for steel production from Whyalla.

o The Government’s November 2015 anti-dumping reforms, which address many of the concerns raised by Australian industry, have significantly strengthened Australia’s anti-dumping system.

o The Anti-Dumping Commission’s ongoing analysis of Asian steel and aluminium markets to identify trends in dumping and consider ways to improve the efficiency of investigations and possible additional measures.

o Delivering on the Government’s deregulation agenda by removing more than $4.5 billion in red and green tape since September 2013.

o The provision of a 100 per cent exemption from the Renewable Energy Target for emissions intensive, trade exposed industries.

o The Building Minister’s Forum (which brings together Federal, State and Territory Minister) investigating non-conforming and non-compliant building products.

o Agreement from State Ministers on the COAG Industry and Skills Council to examine the opportunities and challenges of government procurement policies.