'Made in China' products banned

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.

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What everyone else is thinking

samuel welsh

06/04/2010

austrila ban china products

skotup

14/07/2009

for gods sake, what ever we do, lets not annoy them any more than we already have with chinalco.

Commonsence

18/06/2009

I AVOID the made in China all the time. I will never buy any food (biscuits, tinned or frozen food fish meat or vegetables) Unfortunatley unless I make my own clothes (I am tempted, but the material comes from there too.) So regrettably I am forced to buy clothes. I will NOT buy shoes made in China.
Do I make my self understood Mr Rudd & Co ?

Ivan

16/06/2009

The Federal Government is too frightened of Communist China to restrict imports from that country. What a democratic country is China, it murders its own citizens!

E

15/06/2009

At last one Government has acted in the interests of Australians. Now all Governments should follow suit, and implement the same strategies in the employment sector. Australians born in this country should be given first preference in all employment opportunities, followed by overseas born Australian citizens, then permanent residents, and lastly overseas labour.
Every employer should also be made to advertise any job held by a non-Australian seeking Australians to fill that role. It would be nice if the public sector lead the way in this employment thrust.
The result would be a reduction in the number of Australians without a job, and also a reduction in unemployment benefits.