Image: Dean Browne
In an economy that’s becoming more global and dependent on foreign companies and suppliers, South Australia is hoping to buck that trend in its procurement practices.
For a state that’s been forced to endure the closure of the local automotive manufacturing plants while companies move their operations offshore, one of the big important duties of the government has been to create more protectionist policies that would theoretically enable local businesses to survive and thrive.
And that’s exactly what’s been happening, according to a recent State Procurement Board report that said 90.2 per cent of the value of goods and services contracts, were let with South Australian suppliers in 2014-15.
The government is spruiking this data as a direct result of the Industry Participation Policy, where an Industry Participation Advocate was created by the state government in 2013.
And the data doesn’t lie – according to the state government, the latest figures compare with just 51 per cent in 2012-13 prior to the Advocate role being established.
Minister for Small Business Martin Hamilton-Smith said the latest figures were an “outstanding result”, considering the role was only created in 2013.
“Major projects awarded under the revised Industry Participation Policy have also shown extremely strong results, with more than 90 per cent of the sub-contracts awarded to contractors where the majority of the dollar spend is in the state,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
He said the focus of the Industry Participation Policy is on procuring from locally based suppliers who source locally as it maximises the amount of local labour and capital used; and the amount of economic contribution being retained in the state.
“These figures are a clear indication the state government’s Industry Participation Policy has been successful in creating opportunities for small businesses and this will be supported by further reforms to be put in place by the Office of the Industry Advocate,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
