Labor ripping off Aussie Made logo, Sussan Ley says

The not-for-profit responsible for the iconic logo of authenticity is calling on Labor to explain why it is using its well-known trademark, as the Coalition says the ALP is using it in a ‘calculated campaign’ to promote its agenda.

The ‘Australian Made’ logo has appeared on Labor’s website, with MPs also using a modified version, right, on their social media accounts.

The not-for-profit responsible for the iconic green-and-yellow “Australian Made” logo of authenticity is calling on Labor to explain why it is using its well-known trademark to promote the party’s Future Made in Australia agenda.

Labor’s use of the logo, which depicts a kangaroo inside a green triangle, also prompted the Coalition to accuse it of “ripping off” the trusted symbol as part of a “calculated campaign” to garner support for its manufacturing policies.

While the Australia Made Campaign website makes clear the logo should not be used on anything but “registered products” that meet specific criteria in consumer law, the ALP included it on a website promoting both the $22.7bn Future Made in Australia package and the National Reconstruction Fund. 

The website also features an attack against the former Coalition government that it argues oversaw “a decade of waste and rorts” that allowed Australia’s industrial capacity to “weaken”.

“The height of this neglect was on full display when they goaded the car industry to leave, sending tens of thousands of jobs with it,” the ALP website says.

Readers are asked to sign the “build it here pledge” as part of a petition backing the two programs that will also update subscribers on Labor’s plans for manufacturing going forwards.

The Labor website featuring the Australian Made logo.

A spokesman for the Australia Made Campaign Ltd said the organisation was “aware” the logo – which 89 per cent of consumers trust, according to market surveys – was being used by the ALP.

“AMCL has engaged with the ALP to resolve the matter,” he said.

The spokesman would not confirm whether AMCL had asked the ALP to remove the logo from its materials.

Acting opposition leader Sussan Ley called on Anthony Albanese to take action and “issue an immediate removal notice” to the ALP and stop Labor members using the logo.

“The Labor Party has been caught ripping off the iconic ‘Australian Made’ brand to try to sell their failed budget and their flailing industry policies, it is pathetic and needs to stop today,” she said.

“Even if they take down these posts the damage is done. We need to get to the bottom of this matter because Australians deserve to know who is behind this and who is responsible for ripping off this brand. Labor must commit to not using data captured through this petition.”

In response to questions over the use of the logo for political purposes, a spokesman for Industry Minister Ed Husic said Labor made no apologies for wanting more things made in Australia.

“The Liberals, however, have a lot to apologue for,” he said. “They chased out manufacturers from Australia, then opposed our National Reconstruction Fund.

“If they want to start backing Australian manufacturing and Aussie jobs, they can support our Future Made in Australia bill.”

The Prime Minister on Thursday said the Future Made in Australia plan was “at the centre of the shift that’s happening in the global economy” and would create jobs in coming decades.

As well as the logo being used outright on the ALP website, Ms Ley pointed to another version of it being used by Labor MPs that had been slightly tweaked but, she said, still invoked the iconic Australia Made symbol.

Using well-known products or brands alongside political material has been controversial in the past, with the former Coalition government facing backlash in 2021 for using the Liberal Party logo on an announcement about securing 10 million extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the Australian Made code of practice, the “misuse of the logo, whether by a licensee or a non-licensee, is a serious matter, which could undermine the integrity and reputation of the logo in the eyes of licensees and consumers”.