Opposition politicians in Australia have called for a national steel plan after Australian steelmaker, Arrium, went into voluntary administration. The company operates the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia.

“Steel is a strategically significant industry for Australia; we must now become the only advanced economy in the world to let our steel industry die,” said Bill Shorton, Leader of Opposition Labout Party, in a statement.

“The government needs to get serious about working with the industry to secure the future of the steelmaking industry in this country.”

Among Shorton’s demands includes a call for the government to maximise the use of Australian steel in government-funded infrastructure projects at local, state and federal level.

The global steel industry has been hit by falling prices on the back of a glut in supply of the metal from China. This has put pressure on national steel industries around and prompted the EU to impose a new range of tariffs on Chinese steel imports in January.

In the UK, where the steel industry faces significantly higher costs than elsewhere in the EU due to the country’s high carbon tax, Indian company, Tata, has put its steel business, including the historic Port Talbot steelworks, up for sale after suffering massive losses.

Echoing comments from his Australian counterpart, the UK Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has called on the UK government to intervene to save the UK steel industry.

“If we don’t intervene to protect this steel works, and the other steel works, we will have no steel industry in Britain,” Corbyn said on a visit at the end of last month to Port Talbot.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.