PM on the way out
Surely the end must be near for the Turnbull government.
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The people, via the polls, are clearly indicating they have stopped listening to you, Malcolm, and your statement that the party room elects the prime minister needs to be viewed in perspective.
Its reported that you donated $ 1.75 million of your own money to your last election campaign, so how valid is that statement when clearly you have a vested interest via your financial contribution?
What say you, Malcolm, to your supporters and their staff when they lose their seats and, as the polls reflect, they surely will.
B. Cumberland, North Nowra
Tariff exemption win
If you don’t accept that the Illawarra and Shoalhaven escaped an economic buffeting when Australia avoided US tariffs on aluminium and steel, think again.
Port Kembla is the local base for the operations of BlueScope Steel, a company whose business has changed dramatically since opening in 1915.
BlueScope Steel has met change head on. It has invested and innovated. It’s now the world’s third largest manufacturer of painted and coated steel products. It doubles the value of its steel products before exporting them to the US West Coast.
With more than 100 facilities in 17 countries and employing 14,000 people, BlueScope Steel is one of our biggest manufacturing success stories.
But its activities fuel jobs right through our local economy – and not just because one of its companies, Lysaght, has a branch in Batemans Bay.
This past fortnight, the Turnbull government confronted a major risk to the jobs of hard working Australians right through our region.
If the threatened tariffs by the US on foreign steel and aluminium had gone ahead, jobs outside of steel manufacturing would have been threatened. The domino effect in building, the supply chain and service industries would have been immense.
When President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Turnbull to advise Australia would be exempted, we all should have felt relieved.
When the time came to talk to Australians about the successful outcome, I was proud to stand at the Prime Minister’s side.
This government fought for Australian jobs on the world stage, and we delivered. We have delivered more opportunities to trade our products and we secured a commitment to exempt Australian steel exports from those US tariffs.
Our plan is building a stronger economy to create more jobs by backing business, boosting exports, delivering affordable power and building better roads and infrastructure. Thanks to the hard work of the Australian people, 403,000 more jobs were created in the past year - a record number.
This recent tariff breakthrough coincided with the signing of a massive new export agreement -- the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
This deal covers 500 million people – that's millions of potential new customers for our local farmers and exporters. More customers mean more jobs for Australians and their families.
Bill Shorten told us to abandon negotiations on the TPP. He said the TPP was a vanity project, that it would never happen. He wanted us to give up on it.
What he was really saying is, give up on Australian jobs. He would abandon the aluminium and steel industries and abandon the thousands of farmers and exporters that will benefit from a massive new export agreement.
The Turnbull government will never give up on Australian workers and their jobs. I will fight for Australian jobs and the families that depend on them. And most importantly, make sure more jobs and better paid jobs for generations of people in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven to come.