The federal government’s Joint Select Committee on Government Procurement was set up to investigate the new rules under which Canberra will spend money on infrastructure.

While the laws cover the purchase of all products, the Illawarra stands to benefit by making it easier for BlueScope to compete with foreign steel makers.

The recommendations include encouraging “maximisation of economic opportunities and benefits when assessing a tender for the degree of local content and participation”.

The committee also said the government should “evaluate the whole-of-life environmental sustainability of goods and services” and consider the suppliers’ human rights compliance.

“Implemented effectively, the new rules will enable a broader, more accurate consideration of value-for-money in procurement decision making,” said committee chair Senator Nick Xenophon.

“However, their impact will be dampened unless the Australian government act swiftly to address the implementation concerns identified in this report.”

The South Coast Labour Council made a submission to the committee and secretary Arthur Rorris said the recommendations were “a step forward”.

“Overall, I think that the federal parliament has come to the realisation that the rest of us have made quite some time ago,” Mr Rorris said.

“That is, that it is a furphy to make procurement decisions on the ticketed price alone. There is some acknowledgement that there needs to be a system in place that attaches a value to jobs and taxes and the economic development of this country that comes with buying local.”

Mr Rorris said if these measures were in place “you would be hard pressed not to buy Australian-made steel every time”.