Anthony Albanese will urge Australians to “buy local” in a pre-election attempt to galvanise voter anger at Donald Trump after the US president refused to exempt Australian steel and aluminium from his tariff regime.
Adamant that retaliating with “revenge” tariffs would simply fuel domestic inflation, the prime minister instead invoked “Team Australia” in a flurry of radio calls on Wednesday afternoon.
“Australians can have an impact by buying Australian goods,” he told ABC Melbourne. “Buy Bundy rather than some of the American products … You can make a difference.”
Though Mr Albanese stopped short of advocating an American boycott like those seen in Canada, his language echoed the Canadian government’s parochial response to Mr Trump, which has revived its flagging political fortunes.
Labor believes it can benefit from a milder version of that approach, according to senior sources who said next fortnight’s budget would have an “Australian-made” focus.
The government is weighing how to harness its own considerable purchasing power to support local businesses by ensuring more of them can win federal procurement contracts.
Those contracts were worth $100 billion in the last financial year, and Labor promised before the 2022 election that it would introduce new guidelines and streamline application processes to boost the representation of Australian suppliers.
That has not happened yet, but Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told Senate estimates in February progress was expected “very soon”.
A procurement policy, alongside the existing Future Made in Australia industry investment scheme, could form part of a federal Labor bid to replicate the success of the “Made in WA” campaign many in the party believe was instrumental in the Cook Labor government’s resounding re-election.
“We have [an] agenda that’s very much about our economic resilience and making more things here in Australia,” the PM told Melbourne’s 3AW on Wednesday.
“What we need to do at times like this is have everyone back Team Australia.”
Albanese accuses Dutton of choosing Trump over Australia
Labor seized on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s assertion that he could secure an exemption if he won government, accusing him of taking the side of the Trump administration.
Mr Dutton said on Wednesday Mr Albanese was “weak and incompetent” and should have made additional phone calls and a personal visit to Washington to lobby the Trump administration.
“This is hopeless … I just think the prime minister has let every Australian down,” he said.
“The Coalition government was able to negotiate an exemption largely because we were able to prosecute our argument more effectively than what Anthony Albanese can.”
The government does not believe any additional conversations between the PM and Mr Trump would have made a difference. Trade Minister Don Farrell admitted on Wednesday he believed the Americans never intended to offer anyone an exemption.
That view was echoed by former US ambassador and Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos on Wednesday, and earlier in the week by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said he believed the officials surrounding Mr Trump regretted giving Australia an exemption last time and were determined not to repeat it.
The PM accused Mr Dutton of being “opportunistic”.
“He should be backing Australia rather than backing the Trump administration,” he told Sydney’s 2GB.
“He never takes an opportunity to actually show that he’s an adult and is fit to be the alternative prime minister … He knows that every single country in the world has been subject to this”.
Labor minister Ed Husic, who said the tariffs were a “dog act after over a century of friendship”, accused the Coalition of “rubbing their hands at the misfortune of the country”.
Mr Dutton said he believed he could “do a deal” with the Trump administration.
“There’s no question about that. We’ve got a lot to offer, not just in the defence material space, but obviously in financial services …” he said.
“We will be a strong government that stands up for our national interests, that fights for our national interests and stands up for Australians.”
The PM and other Labor ministers said they would continue to work for an exemption, noting the Turnbull government took nearly a year to secure one.
“We will continue to put forward a very strong case for exemption … We’ll continue to engage constructively,” Mr Albanese said.
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Fantastic approach.
Albanese fails to report that it was Labor’s policy that decimated Australian manufacturing in the first place. Many items now come only from overseas manufacturers. Local business owners strive to compete but have insidious labour laws and taxes that make them uneconomic.
Labor should realize that voters will vote with their hip pocket. We are all hurting. better to learn to donate and shop at charity shops. declutter so someone else can benefit from stuff we no longer need , wear or use. Repair that broken item instead of just buying new. Learn to sew. Watch Youtube to see how many things can be fixed.
Example:- My Bosch drier would not a complete a cycle. A repair guy on Youtube showed me a hidden trap for debris that was NOT mentioned in the manual. 5 minutes later that machine was operational again after cleaning out the pump inlet of a build up. Others would have gone and bought a new machine as the repair man would cost half of the new machine. The machine was made in Germany! Driers are no longer made in Australia.
The sooner we leave the USA in our dust the better; bunch of smug, undereducated, self-aggrandizing buffoons. I’m American by naturalisation after birth on a foreign air force base, but my parents were worldly enough and forward-thinking enough to move their young family – on Uncle Sam’s dime when my father retired from the USAF – to a country they had only read about. It took me 20-plus years to forgive them (early on I saw myself as Gidget or the flying nun when I grew up, and was mercilessly teased for much of the 1970s by my Aussie peers), but I’ve whole-heartedly adapted to the Australian way of life (accent aside), and am so happy we weren’t plopped down in Texas, which was an option when they were deciding where to live.
I have chosen to buy not only Australian made but even local for a long time, i.e food unless we don’t have it here in WA and it comes from Eastern States.
I notice some ham is made from pork imported fron the US and Canada. The excuse is that Australia can’t provide enough pork…Please support companies who use Australian pork, which is much better quality. Why do we need to import fresh products which are frozen, when our country has a much better cleaner environment?
Regardless of Labor’s imperfection or not, Australia would be crazy or even more stupid, dumber than the Americans if we vote for someone who is pro Trump, after seeing the current situation in the US.
No matter what, far right people will try to influence voters and it’s our duty to stop fascism destroy this country. I’m sure Australians are more educated and less ignorant, and not easy being manipulated.