Bibra Lake-based Steelwise Fabrication has been forced to shut down permanently, prompting claims by the state opposition that the government is not doing enough for local business.
Opposition spokesperson for local content Peter Tinley said the closure of Steelwise Fabrication, a family-owned business with 12 employees, was evidence that the state budget, announced yesterday, was letting down the manufacturing sector.
“What is absent from the budget is any kind of vision for the kind of broad-skilled economy WA should be developing off the back of our mining and gas resources,” Mr Tinley said.
He claimed the Barnett government was not providing a level playing field for local business, despite reaping record revenue growth off the back of the mining sector.
“You can have all the 10-point plans and strategies you like, but, unless the Barnett government is prepared to stand up to mining giants to ensure local manufacturers have a fair and open playing field, we will continue to see the sector struggle,” Mr Tinley said.
His comments come a week after commerce minister Simon O'Brien highlighted the success of local businesses Presure Dynamics and Decmil Group in winning work on the Wheatstone gas project.
“These contracts demonstrate that WA industry is receiving contracts from offshore oil and gas projects that are both complex and exposed to competition from interstate and overseas," Mr O'Briewn said.
"This refutes the claims made by the Opposition that the only contracts awarded by offshore projects are work that must be done here.”
The minister said there had been $17.7 billion of publicly announced local contracts on major resources projects since July 2011.
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