Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer has
today refused to protect New Zealand’s aluminium extrusion
industry from state-subsidised imports, putting more than
1,000 manufacturing jobs in Hamilton, New Plymouth, and
Wellington at risk.
E tū, which represents workers at
the plants, says the decision is a betrayal. The union is
calling on every political party to commit to revisiting it
after the election.
Extrusion plants take raw
aluminium and shape it into the parts for windows, doors,
buildings, trucks, and boats. Imports now land here at
prices at or below what the raw metal alone costs local
manufacturers. According to MBIE figures, extrusion imports
jumped 34% in the first seven months of this year.
E
tū backed the industry’s application for safeguard
measures, which are temporary limits on imports. The
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
investigated and accepted the industry is being seriously
harmed. Officials still said it was too early to know
whether the surge would continue, and Brewer turned the
application down.
E tū National Secretary Rachel
Mackintosh says the Minister looked at the evidence and
chose to do nothing.
“MBIE agrees this industry is
being seriously harmed. The Minister has that in black and
white and he’s walked away anyway,” Rachel
says.
“These are skilled, secure jobs. Some of our
members have worked on the same site for 30 years. Today
they’ve been told their jobs don’t
matter.
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“Unemployment is at 5.6%, the highest in
more than a decade. Thousands of Kiwis are leaving for
Australia every month and this Government is adding to the
queue.”
Rachel says officials want to wait and see
whether the flood of imports is a trend.
“Our
members can’t afford to wait. By the time officials are
sure, these plants could be gone. Once they close, they
don’t reopen.
“This is predatory pricing backed by
foreign government subsidies. No worker can compete with
imports priced at the cost of the raw metal, however hard
they work. Australia, Canada, the US, and Europe all act to
protect their industries from exactly this. Mr Brewer has
left New Zealand workers on their own.”
She says the
damage won’t stop at the factory gate.
“If we lose
the ability to make these products here, we lose it for
good. Every builder and manufacturer in the country will be
stuck with offshore prices and shipping delays. We learned
that lesson the hard way during COVID.
“Every party
in this election needs to tell workers in Hamilton, New
Plymouth, and Wellington where it stands. Will it fight for
New Zealand manufacturing or let it die? Our members will be
asking and they’ll remember the answer when they
vote.”
