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Albanese spruiks Labor’s ‘Buy Australia’ plan during Hunter visit

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Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was determined to spruik the merits of Labor’s “Buy Australia” plan during his visit to the Hunter last week.

The party’s proposal means small and medium businesses would obtain greater chances to bid for lucrative federal government contracts, opening the door to spend more taxpayer dollars locally.

In Lake Macquarie to officially launch the campaign of Olympian Dan Repacholi, who’s been selected to represent Labor for the seat of Hunter following the retirement of sitting member Joel Fitzgibbon, Mr Albanese took the opportunity to discuss his strategy, which he unveiled at the NSW Labor conference.

“We’d pass laws locking the government in to using more Australian-made goods, products and materials in Commonwealth contracts,” he said.

“That is using the procurement – basically, the purchases of goods and services – to support Australian jobs and support the Australian economy.

“The federal government has spent almost $190 billion over the past three financial years.

“In 2019/20, just a quarter of the almost $54 billion worth of contracts were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises.

“What we will do is make sure projects, as we did with the Hunter Expressway, are broken up into smaller packages so that Australian firms can compete on a level playing field.

“We’ll establish a new Future Made in Australia Office, as part of the Department of Finance and working with the finance and industry ministers, to drive those Australia jobs.

“We will also ensure assistance is given to small businesses, indigenous enterprises and regional communities, which will allow those employers – of businesses who get those contracts – to support permanent work.

“I believe it’s a big issue here in the Hunter.”

Labor has pledged to work with state, territory and local governments to break up larger infrastructure contracts to allow smaller Australian-owned companies to bid.

Between 2015 and 2020, 95% of the top-20 infrastructure projects worth more than $500 million were delivered by foreign-owned firms.

“Labor will provide opportunities for mid and small tier Australian companies to participate in the infrastructure pipeline helping to build and strengthen our sovereign capability,” Mr Albanese said.

“This will be done by packaging tenders where appropriate into multiple packages that allow smaller companies to bid for them.”

Under Labor’s plan, government agencies would be able to directly engage with small and medium-sized businesses for contracts of up to $500,000 rather than the current $200,000 threshold.

Where possible, at least 4% of research and development in government-funded agencies worth more than $50 million would be sourced locally from small businesses.

“A secure Australian jobs code will ensure the government spends money with companies that treat workers fairly and have environmentally sustainable outcomes,” he said.

“Firms would also have stronger requirements to declare whether they were using offshore tax havens.”

Guidelines will be developed to boost the use of Australian-made uniforms, merchandise, paper and boxes.

Mr Albanese also promised Labor would leverage government investments for emissions reduction and maximise local content on defence projects.

The $20 billion provided through partnership arrangements with states and territories would also have to be consistent with the new procurement guidelines.

“Together, these plans will ensure that Australia’s capacity to manufacture essential goods in areas including health, energy, infrastructure, defence and space and communications is increased and that we are more resilient,” he added.

  • with AAP

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