Labor has announced plans to improve support for the state’s manufacturing industry so it can win more work on major resources projects.
Leader of the Opposition Mark McGowan today released a policy statement committing the party to improving local business’ chances of winning work on major projects, if it wins the next election.
He said industries which should be complementary to the state’s mining boom were suffering because they couldn’t compete with outside competitors which were given more preference and had lower labour costs.
“These businesses should be sharing in the mining boom but instead they have been left behind,” he said.
“This is one of the biggest issues facing the manufacturing industry in WA and we are committed to finding sensible ways of developing a sustainable and competitive manufacturing industry.”
The commitment has begun with a Bill being introduced to Parliament which would require proponents of major projects to negotiate skilled work agreements with the government.
Major projects are deemed to be those costing more than $200 million.
The agreements would require proponents to be more transparent about their development and contracting processes by outlining work to be carried out in Western Australia and work which would be done elsewhere; including reasons why it could not be done here. They would also need to set out work which would be undertaken in regional centres.
Project owners would have to set out the standards and specifications required for a bid package so local businesses were able to enter competitive bids for projects in line with specifications.
The level of training, apprenticeships, and local capacity building that would be provided by the project would also need to be outlined.
A discussion paper issued alongside Labor’s policy statement sets out options the party’s considering to give the local manufacturing industry more chance of winning work.
They include giving the Department of State Development responsibility for measuring the capacity and capability of the industry and establishing a register of local manufacturing businesses.
It would also look at promoting joint ventures to improve competition for large tenders, setting internationally-recognised standards for design, engineering and construction and setting up a mandatory register of engineers to ensure the same standards are applied to all.
It has also proposed establishing an energy and resources academy, which would work with the state and independent schools and directly link secondary education with tertiary training in the resources sector.
Industry and business are being asked to submit comment on the discussion paper.
Labor’s commitment comes following the Government’s launch of the Local Industry Participation Framework in July 2011.
The framework sought to make the process proponents undertook to tender work more transparent, so the ability for local businesses to be engaged could be more easily assessed, while also improving lines of communication.
