A Message from Weld Australia’s CEO: Geoff Crittenden Australia’s jobs-driven COVID-19 recovery must be manufacturing led. Mandating compliance to Australian Standards—whether steel is fabricated in Australia or overseas—is the perfect first step to securing the future of the Australian welding and manufacturing industries. Given a level playing field, Australian welding is internationally price competitive, and of the highest quality. Without regulations that mandate compliance to Australian Standards for the manufacture, fabrication and erection of steel, procurement decisions will continue to focus on the lowest common denominator: cost.
Now more than ever, it is vital that action is taken to secure the future of Australia’s welding and manufacturing industries. Recent trade tensions with China illustrate just how important this is to our economy. Over the last 12 months, China has imposed trade strikes on half-adozen key industries including coal, wood, wine and seafood. Yet, China is still taking every opportunity to export their products to Australia, including fabricated steel. Quite rightly, the Federal Government has not imposed reciprocal tariffs on China. With China’s capacity to inflict economic pain on us much greater than our own, reciprocal tariffs would likely do more harm than good. However, this situation can—and will—cost jobs in what is still quite a fragile industry. For instance, the jobs of 150 workers in regional south-west Victoria are under threat following the award of the wind turbine towers contract for the $360 million Ryan Corner wind farm to an overseas company. Danish company Vestas has sent the contract for the manufacture of 52 wind towers offshore. This is despite the fact that Keppel Prince Engineering— the only manufacturer of wind turbines on mainland Australia—is located just 70km away from the project site. As a result, Keppel Prince will likely be forced to make 150 workers redundant. In a
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Australian Welding
Image: Geoff Crittenden (CEO, Weld Australia).
regional town with a population of just 10,000 people, the economic fall-out will be severe. The contract for the Ryan Corner wind farm comprises some 15,000 tonnes of steel. It is simply galling that a contract of this size has been sent offshore. Local manufacturers like Keppel Prince cannot win jobs on their doorstep when multinational companies like Vestas place a premium on price over and above quality and safety. Nearly all locally manufactured steel used in Australian major projects is certified by the Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels (ACRS). Local fabricators comply to internationally recognised Australian Standards and are certified by the relevant Australian authority. In this way, Government and NonGovernment clients can ensure the quality and safety of projects. Imported steelwork, which does not meet these requirements, is often of inferior quality and may not meet the Australian safety requirements. Weld Australia has been calling on the Federal Government for the last five years to mandate that all steelwork in Australia—both local and imported— is manufactured and erected according to Australian Standards. The Federal Government must act now to save jobs in regional areas and ensure public safety. The importance of our local manufacturing industry and the development of robust renewable energy sources cannot be underestimated when it
