AMWU Queensland and Northern Territory Secretary Andrew Dettmer has welcomed an announcement from Treasurer and Minister for Economic Development and Industry, Andrew Fraser, that new legislation will protect locally-made content.

Mr Fraser made the announcement at the Union’s State Conference in Brisbane this morning.

The Treasurer announced that he will be proposing new legislation to cabinet that will entrench
the Local Industry Policy and ensure its enforcement across Queensland government agencies
and corporations.

“Our Union has campaigned hard for the rights of local manufacturers to be protected by strict
local content procurement legislation,” Mr Dettmer said.

“Basically, we want components that are destined for Queensland infrastructure and projects
to be made locally where possible.

“We also wanted all areas of Government as well as Government-owned corporations to make
this a top priority.

“The legislation Mr Fraser announced this morning will make this happen.

“This announcement shows that the AMWU’s work – in particular the Manufacturing Matters
campaign – has paid off for the workers of Queensland.

“Manufacturing is the lifeblood of communities across Queensland and ensuring that it
remains so is the thing that we’re

According to 2007-08 statistics, there are approximately 11,000 manufacturing businesses in
Queensland employing 188,000 people.