Government should spend 50% of contracting budget on local firms: Unions NSW

Local businesses should get preferential treatment when bidding for government contracts, NSW’s peak union body will tell a parliamentary inquiry.

Unions NSW will argue thousands of jobs have been taken off-shore and then met with higher costs and lower quality, with governments prioritising short-term financial gain over the long-term benefits that keeping contracts local can bring.

They are set to give evidence at an inquiry into the government’s procurement practices and what impact they are having on social development in NSW.

Among a string of recommendations, Unions NSW says the government should be forced to spend at least half its contracting budget on local firms.

It will argue that local firms should get a 30% weighting when bidding if they show strong labour standards and supply chains.

“For too long, successive governments have prioritised short-term financial savings over long-term benefits such as creating solid jobs, deep skill development, and strong industry,” Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said.

“As the largest employer in the southern hemisphere, the NSW government has a responsibility to create safe and healthy workplaces, maintain secure jobs, and ensure workers are paid appropriately.”

The unions pointed to the ACT’s ‘Secure Local Jobs’ policy, which requires businesses bidding on government contracts to show how they are going to create jobs within the local community.

Their NSW proposal includes a requirement for businesses to show they are meeting labour standards and an independent body auditing procurement.

“Companies who do the right thing by employees are too regularly outbid by companies paying the bare minimum or even less,” Morey said.

“We need a procurement policy that encourages investment, not a race to the bottom.”

Other union requests include a requirement to publish analysis of the decision-making behind contracts worth more than $1 billion and mandatory consideration of the benefits to the local economy.

This article was first published by AAP.

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