The AMWU has welcomed the announcement that the NSW Government will buy local when it awards new contracts and tenders.

AMWU NSW Secretary, Paul Bastian said that the NSW Government’s decision is welcome news in this economic environment.

“As both a major spender and a major employer, the State Government’s decision to buy local goods and services will benefit NSW immensely, creating jobs and providing opportunities for local businesses that employ local workers,” said Mr Bastian.

“When the Government awards a contract to build new trains, ferries or buses to an overseas company, it sends skilled NSW jobs overseas,” he said.

 “An important change in the NSW Government Purchasing Policy is that it now includes NSW state owned corporations such as those in public transport.

“These state owned corporations have the biggest budgets and so they also have the biggest opportunity to create new jobs.

“Using the Government purchasing policy to sustain and create local jobs will also encourage investment, research and development that will lead to more jobs and a stronger economy for the future,” Mr Bastian said.

“The Premier’s recent announcement of $64 billion worth of infrastructure projects for NSW is great news and should also mean a lot more jobs for NSW. 

The AMWU will continue to campaign to make sure that this money translates into new jobs for NSW workers. It is time for the Government to get serious about vetting all government tenders and contracts to make sure that local content levels are genuine. 

In the current global economic meltdown, every other county in the world is trying to defend local jobs for their own workers. The Government must make sure that NSW taxes support jobs in NSW, not in China, the US and Europe.

Mr Bastian said that there was also an important role for the Federal Government in defending local jobs.

“NSW businesses should not have to compete with one hand tied behind their backs. 

“The Federal Government should not be signing off on any more free trade agreements that force local businesses to compete without support against the world’s corporate giants – many of which receive massive assistance from their own governments,” he said.