It's been revealed that almost $4 billion worth of government goods and services will have to be sourced from Australian companies first in a ban on "made in China" products to be imposed in tomorrow's NSW budget.
The Daily Telegraph says all NSW government departments and agencies will be forced to protect Australian jobs by giving preference to locally made products.
This would include stationery, uniforms, cars and even trains and building contracts.
The paper says the decision is bound to have international ramifications and put NSW Labor at odds with the Rudd government, which has made no secret of its plan to strengthen ties with China.
With NSW now recording the highest unemployment rate in the country at 6.4 per cent, the protectionist measure will apply to all goods and services not included under existing Free Trade agreements and will be worth almost $4 billion in goods and services supplied to the NSW government, the Telegraph says.
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