The New Steel Plan 10 Point Summary

10-point summary of the AWU New Steel Plan

 1. Declare steel a strategic industry. Use it for nation building projects during the global financial crisis. Consider government-backed bonds to finance these projects. Reward on-time, on-budget supply with production bounties.

 2. Recognise and acknowledge the international competitiveness of the steel industry. Benchmark Australian steel against a world price adjusted for true production costs.

 3. Set up a Steel Price Monitor to provide real time information on prices, production costs, demand conditions and transparency in assessing dumping cases.

4. Strengthen AusIndustry's policy of offering Full, Fair and Reasonable opportunity to local industry.

 5. Support innovation and exports.

 6. Support for productivity, wage restraint and jobs.

 7. Recognise steel's importance as a strategic regional industry (eg local planning laws in areas such as Port Kembla which rely disproportionately on steel as an employer).

 8. Promote a global sectoral steel agreement. Share technical and performance data among partner countries.

9. Strengthen Foreign Investment Review Board's powers to review future takeovers to protect the national interest.

10. A new industry policy to integrate steel with car plans, infrastructure investment, renewable energy supply (wind farms, geothermal, solar), and water conservation projects.