New South Wales Government imposes ban on Chinese products

[Chiral]

LINK

New South Wales Government imposes ban on Chinese products

* State to go Aussie-made to save jobs

* Departments to cut Chinese products

* At odds with Rudd Government

ALMOST $4 billion worth of government goods and services will have to be sourced from Australian companies first in a New South Wales ban on "made in China" products which is to be imposed in its State Budget tomorrow.

The Daily Telegraph reports that all NSW Government departments and agencies will be forced to protect Australian jobs by giving preference to locally made products.

The Federal Government will not support the ban, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said today.

"This is not the time for Australia to retreat to protectionism," Mr Smith told Sky News.

Any local procurement policy would have to be consistent with Australia's obligations to the World Trade Organisation.

"What we can't do is focus in a discriminatory way on one particular nation, whoever that nation might be."

NSW's ban would include stationery, uniforms, cars and even trains and building contracts.

And to make local bids more competitive, a 20 per cent discount will be applied to Australian products when comparing the cost with overseas bidders.

The decision is bound to have international ramifications and put NSW Labor at odds with the Rudd Government, which has made no secret of its plan to strengthen ties with China.

With NSW now recording the highest unemployment rate in the country at 6.4 per cent, the protectionist measure will apply to all goods and services not included under existing Free Trade agreements and will be worth almost $4 billion in goods and services supplied to the NSW Government.

But in what may prove an even more controversial move, the Government will also lift the exemptions on goods bound by Free Trade Agreements, by extending current exemptions to companies with 200 or fewer employees to those with 500 employees.

The policy will be the centrepiece of a jobs package being pinned on a $62 billion capital works program over four years which the Government claimed will support 160,000 jobs.

Following The Daily Telegraph's revelations this year that police and ambulance uniforms were being imported from or made in China, Treasurer Eric Roozendaal will announce a new Government purchasing policy which will give priority to more than 500,000 NSW small and medium-sized businesses.

It will also apply to all future tenders or purchases for Government contracts which will give preference to Australian companies.

"All NSW Government and state-owned corporations (SOCs) are to give preferential treatment to Australian-made goods under the new Local Jobs First plan," Mr Roozendaal said.

"The NSW Government is putting NSW jobs first. Every year, NSW Government agencies spend billions of dollars buying the things they need to deliver services to the people of NSW.

"This plan tips the balance in favour of local businesses, providing them with greater opportunities to expand and sell to government."

The Local Jobs First program has been endorsed by Unions NSW.

It will apply to all Government agencies and SOCs which will now be required to give preferential treatment to local manufacturers under a price preference mechanism.

The Local Jobs First plan will also require tenders of $4 million or more to include an industry participation plan for local jobs and training programs for apprentices.

All department heads will have to comply with the policy in performance contracts.

GO NSW...HOOORAY ... have they seen the light at long last...well it's a step in the right direction at least...only problem is though ...all those bloody computers...all made in China...well mostly anyways...won't be able to get around that one...although most of Dell's computers are assembled in Malaysia but still the parts and boards etc are Chinese made...Chinese products are discreetly everywhere you look...almost like a virus.

H.

[MindExpansion]

Don't think getting off side with China is a very good idea.

[ThunderIdeal]

eek i don't like the sound of this. there has to be a better way.

[poo]

Heart in the right place, but reality is going to be different methinks...

[SayN]

where the fuck do you find something NOT made in China? (even the shitake's I had tonite where chinese imports)

[ThunderIdeal]

the moon (so far).

[Torsten]

I am generally for free trade and certainly against protectionism, but at a time when a large part of the Australian GDP is recycled tax dollars it is a good idea to make sure that these tax dollars actually create australian jobs rather than chinese jobs. otherwise we might as well give our bail out money to china and hope that this will stimulate the world economy enough to pull everyone out of recession [which I don't think it would].

So, while free trade in the commercial sphere is a good thing I also think some limited protectionism in government purchasing policy is a way to protect australian jobs. It is standard practice in many other countries.

As for pissing china off, let's face it, the chinese/american junk consumption model is unsustainable anyway, so not much point trying to restart it with our tax dollars only to see it collapse in 5 or 10 years as carbon taxes take hold. Some hard times will help to reshape this model and we will hopefully all benefit from it in the end. Either way, china needs resources and they'll stay 'friends' with anyone willing to sell those raw materials and energy sources to them.

[Chiral]

"This is not the time for Australia to retreat to protectionism," Mr Smith told Sky News.

I'm curious as when would it be a good time be to retreat to protectionism if not now....?

This recession is digging it's heals it hardcore....those unemployment figures for NSW are pretty high and there doesn't appear to be anything in the winds to change those figures anytime soon.

I'd say it's a damn good time to retreat if you ask me...the spineless federal government are cowards and will jump as high as the American and Chinese ask them to jump without any questions...fragile economy here sometimes here I tell ya.

H.

[Neoshaman]

"This is not the time for Australia to retreat to protectionism," Mr Smith told Sky News.

I'm curious as when would it be a good time be to retreat to protectionism if not now....?

This recession is digging it's heals it hardcore....those unemployment figures for NSW are pretty high and there doesn't appear to be anything in the winds to change those figures anytime soon.

I'd say it's a damn good time to retreat if you ask me...the spineless federal government are cowards and will jump as high as the American and Chinese ask them to jump without any questions...fragile economy here sometimes here I tell ya.

H.

from my understanding don't the E.U the U.S and China all have some degree of protectionism policy why is it soo bad for us to do the same oh thats right they all run the world economy and we don't

[ThunderIdeal]

we already have some degree just like them. it leads to stupid shit, like being paid to grow a crop and then burn it.

[Neoshaman]

we already have some degree just like them. it leads to stupid shit, like being paid to grow a crop and then burn it.

I find the whole capitalism in general to be the cause of stupid shit whats the difference between growing a crop and burning it or selling it to woolworths where 60% + i s going in the rubbish anyway the conviences created by capitalism and capitalism in general lead to stupid shit I always wonder how we can be one of the richest countries in the world for natural resources yet have practically fuck all pull on a global scale its basixcally cause of a failure on our governments part to protect secondary manufacturing and processing industries instead we sell our raw materials overseas and buy the proceesed product back shitloads dearer

[Torsten]

I always wonder how we can be one of the richest countries in the world for natural resources yet have practically fuck all pull on a global scale

Because resources are not priced at their true value. Once energy and ores are priced at their true value [incl carbon tax, remediation tax, etc] then such product become more improtant in the global picture. At the moment they are just refined dirt.

its basixcally cause of a failure on our governments part to protect secondary manufacturing and processing industries instead we sell our raw materials overseas and buy the proceesed product back shitloads dearer

The problem with this view is that if you manufacture crappy products at high prices then no amount of protection is going to establish your industries. Aussies have this delusion that they produce good products - whereas the rest of the world doesn't agree with them. Hence no demand.

eg if it costs the same to make a german [or high end japanese] car as it does to make an aussie car then where do you think the rest of the world will spend their money?

And as long as you keep getting told that you are "world first, world leaders, world best" there is no incentive to actually improve.

I am not saying australia should change , but those who complain about our lack of manufacturing should look at the society attitudes as a whole rather than just the government failing to protect industries. "Rough, rough good enough" doesn't cut it if you want to build up an export market for manufactured goods, and essentially without export there is not enough domestic volume to make most manufacturing industries profitable.

[Chiral]

Doesn't all this simply come down to labour costs...we simply wouldn't work for the money other nations pay their employee's if we did we would be on the streets unable to even pay shared rent in a house with 20 people...

Our costs of living demands a person make a certain amount of money to stay just one step off the gutter...in China they might earn in a year what we need to live in a month...

how can we possibly compete...simple answer is we can't.

H.

[J Smith]

I'd prefer it if my taxes were spent on goods that represent the best value for money. For example, if department A spends $100 mil on Australian made goods, but they could get the same goods from overseas for only $70 mil, I'd prefer the Government to buy the cheaper goods and spend the extra $30 mil on other services like education etc.

What's to stop Australian suppliers price gouging by artificially inflating prices of goods - which means the Government ends up spending even more on goods.

How do they define Australian-made goods? Goods simply made here or companies owned only by Australian citizens? Unless they ensure that every shareholder of the companies supplying the goods are Australian citizens, how can they know that the money won't end up going overseas anyway? The Government ends up paying more for goods and overseas shareholders profit anyway? OK I realise that at least if the goods are Australian made then some locals will be employed, but still... spend the $30mil they save by buying overseas goods and create more jobs.

If they can get Australian and overseas goods at the same price, sure make them buy the Australian goods. Otherwise, I want them to spend my tax money on the most cost-effective things.

[Garbage]

It's not a racist issue but one of economics,if you lose the ability to make tangible stuff and instead rely on the make believe money of international Usury to provide cheap foreign goods at interest then pretty soon you are a tenant in what used to be your own country.

Which is after all what they are after,a world full of slaves.

And if i am to be Candid we see Australia has already been sold out from under Australians by their representatives.

Now the new slave owner demands Australians to work the plantation all the harder.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Garbage