http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/buy-australia/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/buy-australian-not-worth-the-risk-to-our-economy/ You will all be aware of current demands for Australian Government procurement policies to include a “buy Australian” bias. The Government does not support such proposals. We remain resolutely committed to a non-discriminatory purchasing policy. Australia is a signatory to numerous international agreements that seriously inhibit our ability to use discriminatory procurement policies. We have been vocal in international forums warning against the serious threat any upsurge in protectionism poses to the world economy. If we introduce protectionist measures like discriminatory procurement policies we will invite retaliation from other countries. As a trading nation, Australia stands to lose a great deal in any global outbreak of protectionism. The notion that there are big gains for Australian companies and workers to be won from discriminatory procurement policies is essentially a mirage. Research by my Department that I am releasing today shows that the possible benefits are very modest. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/buy-australian-not-worth-the-risk-to-our-economy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/buy-australian-not-worth-the-risk-to-our-economy/#item748 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 M30o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr