by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A South-East manufacturers group says the Federal Budget is “picking winners” and “throwing good money after bad”.
South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance president Peter Angelico said government support such as $10,000 bonuses for electricians were “geared twoards the building sector”.
“They talk up the Made in Australia campaign but ignore manufacturers who have the ability to export, unlike the building industry who dig a hole and fill it up with cheap imports.
“For example, recently-collapsed Oceania Glass was not supported by government project procurement.
“Instead those projects continued to import finished windows from China and resulted in putting 300-plus people out of work.”
Angelico said schemes such as $1 billion grants for ‘green iron’ production was “throwing good money after bad”.
“Rather than pick winners, beef up support for research-and-development (R&D) programs so innovative companies can explore ideas at their own expense.
“The 44 per cent R&D claims are generally more cost effective to governments.”
The Federal Government’s ‘Free Tafe’ policy was a “misnomer” because manufacturing employers foot the bill.
Meanwhile, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) endorsed the budget, including the Future Made in Australia spending.
It backed the support for Whyalla steelworks, which is under administration, as well as the ‘green iron’ fund, credits for aluminium smelters to switch to renewable energy and $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said there still needed to be “strong policies” – such as anti-dumping measures and procurement policies – to protect domestic manufacturers from “unfair international competition”.
“The imperative for these new measures has intensified dramatically with the election of the Trump Administration in the US.
“Mandating Australian steel and aluminium in public infrastructure projects makes perfect sense. “It ensures local industries benefit directly from taxpayer-funded initiatives, helping secure thousands of Australian jobs.”
