Federal MP calls for procurement assistance for infrastructure sector

Federal MP Stephen Jones has told Federal Parliament this week’s slashing of 1100 jobs (Port Kembla’s steelworkers) will slash $1 billion from the region’s economy and has joined the call for greater use of Australian products.

Jones conceded however that he had not spoken to Prime Minister Julia Gillard about the need for a new procurement policy, but said his stance had been known for many months.

"I think it makes a hell of a lot of sense if [the Government] is putting money into infrastructure, and one of the reasons we are doing that is to stimulate employment, then a pretty direct way of doing that is to ensure there are Australian-made goods in that infrastructure," he said.

Ms Gillard yesterday described protectionism as "cheap populism" and a "slippery slope", claiming that mandating the use of Australian steel would hurt the mining sector.

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