NSW Labor has this afternoon reintroduced into the NSW Parliament the Securing NSW Steel Industry Bill 2017, following the lapse of a previous Bill in late February after the NSW Government used tricky political tactics to avoid a vote.

The Securing NSW Steel Industry Bill 2017 has the following key objectives:

• Mandating at least 90 per cent use of Australian-made steel in publicly funded infrastructure projects;
• The appointment of a NSW Steel Industry Advocate to certify the use of Australian-made steel and monitor its use in publicly funded infrastructure projects; and;
• The NSW Steel Industry Advocate is located in the Illawarra region.

The reintroduction of the Securing NSW Steel Bill 2017 also follows revelations this week that Wollongong City Council had imported steel street posts from Vietnam despite a BlueScope Steel owned company, Orrcon Steel, confirming it could manufacture and supply the same posts.

The Securing NSW Steel Bill 2017 will be debated again later this year.

Comments attributable to Ryan Park MP:

“I’m very pleased to have been able to reintroduce the Securing NSW Steel Industry Bill 2017 into the NSW Parliament on behalf of my Illawarra Parliamentary colleagues.

“The re-introduction of the steel bill simply confirms that we will not be stopped by any tricky device adopted by the Government to stop us standing up the steel industry in NSW.”

Comments attributable to Anna Watson MP:

“The Government may have thought that by avoiding a vote on the steel bill last month it had defeated the will of those of us in the Illawarra who understand how important the steel industry is to our communities.

“They were wrong and we will continue to fight for steel workers and this important industry.”

Comments attributable to Paul Scully MP:

“We’ve seen again just this week in the attempted cover-up by Wollongong City Council that the procurement process for steel is full of holes and suppliers appear to mislead governments at all levels.

“The Securing NSW Steel Industry Bill 2017 will put those days behind us with a legislated requirement and a cop on the beat to make sure that suppliers are using certifiable Australian-made steel in every school, hospital, road and bridge across NSW.”