Question On Notice No. 3102 asked in the Legislative Council on 13 August 2020 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Premier; Minister for Public Sector Management; Federal-State Relations
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to contracts
awarded in regional Western Australia from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020; and
I ask:
(a) for each agency, will the Minister please provide a breakdown of:
(i) total project value;
(ii) total contract value; and
(iii) name of person or organisation awarded the contract;
(b) for
each person or organisation identified in (a), will the Minister please
identity the contractors that are considered to be contractors that are based
locally, within the region or located outside of the region; and
(c) if in the Ministers response contractors are categorised, please provide a
definition or explanation for each category?
Answered on 17 September 2020
It is not considered a reasonable or appropriate use of Government resources to compile a breakdown across multiple agencies of projects including the details individual contractors.
Should the Member have a particular question regarding a specific project or contractor, I would encourage him to ask a more specific question.
For the Member’s information, this government introduced the WA Buy Local Policy 2020 earlier this year. This policy ensures that State Government agencies prioritise local businesses that are based in the regional location in which the work or service is being delivered.
This policy will include:
· training for regional contractors in understanding the policy and how to apply for contracts;
· 'look-ahead' lists of forthcoming tenders to allow local contractors more time to bid;
· increase in contract thresholds for regional offices of State Government agencies, to allow greater local decision-making about contracting of works, goods and services;
· establishing new communication channels between regional stakeholders and the State Government, including regular Regional Communication Forums and deploying the existing Local Content Adviser Network;
· new Implementation Agreements, reviewed annually, for State Government agencies to commit to applying the Buy Local policy; and
· increased reporting of agency outcomes to monitor the policy's effectiveness and identify further improvements.
All these measures work to ensure local companies and contractors have increased opportunity to work on projects in their local regions.
The WA Buy Local 2020 policy complements the McGowan Government's successful implementation of the WA Jobs Act and the Western Australian Industry Participation Strategy (WAIPS) in creating local jobs and boosting the economy.