Federal report into procurement for infrastructure projects commissioned

A report has been commissioned by the Federal Government to examine how procurement policy and practices can provide better value and foster the development of experience in the construction sector.

The report was commissioned by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack to help ensure taxpayers get the most value under the Federal Government’s $75 billion decade long infrastructure pipeline.

“As an informed investor, the Federal Government is committed to ensuring we deliver value for money for the Australian taxpayer,” Mr McCormack said.

“Around the country our investment is focused on improving safety and driving economic growth, creating around 50,000 additional direct and indirect jobs, and we want to maximise that benefit. As our infrastructure programs grows, it becomes even more imperative to ensure there is nothing the current Federal and state payment arrangements hampering a competitive market.

“The community should have confidence the size of the government’s infrastructure investment provides opportunities across the construction supply chain. We know the benefits which can come from fair and reasonable opportunity for Australian businesses to compete for work,” he said

Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Alan Tudge said the increasing scale and complexity of urban infrastructure projects makes it even more important to get procurement and tendering right.

“As part of the Government’s $5.3 billion commitment to build Western Sydney Airport, WSA Co has embarked on a competitive, value-for-money procurement strategy to secure a range of companies to provide design, technical, project management and construction services,” Mr Tudge said.

“The tendering for the first stage of the Western Sydney Airport has been broken down into smaller parts to help encourage more potential bidders to put their names forward to complete the early earth works, including second and third tier providers.”

Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister Andrew Broad said discussions with industry will help understand experiences in major procurements and identify the best ways to support local construction contractors to engage on infrastructure projects being funded by the Federal Government.

“It is important that we show the leadership and work with state and territory governments to refine the settings for major infrastructure projects to support local content and grow the experience and capability of the Australian construction industry,” Mr Broad said.

The Federal Government will work with the infrastructure industry to develop a report to take to the COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council later in 2018, with a series of workshops being held next month.