❓ Ms. Quirk asks about the success of the McGowan government's Aboriginal procurement policy. The Minister responds positively, highlighting exceeded targets, contract values, and increased opportunities for Aboriginal businesses and employment.
AnsweredQoN 143Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ABORIGINAL BUSINESSES —
PROCUREMENT
143. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
My question, which is better than
the last one, is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
The SPEAKER : No preamble,
member.
Ms M.M. QUIRK : I refer to the
McGowan Labor government's commitment to creating more job
opportunities and improving economic conditions for Aboriginal people. Can the
minister update the house on the success of this government's
procurement policy and its efforts to provide more opportunities for Aboriginal
businesses?
PROCUREMENT
143. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs:
My question, which is better than
the last one, is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
The SPEAKER : No preamble,
member.
Ms M.M. QUIRK : I refer to the
McGowan Labor government's commitment to creating more job
opportunities and improving economic conditions for Aboriginal people. Can the
minister update the house on the success of this government's
procurement policy and its efforts to provide more opportunities for Aboriginal
businesses?
AnswerView source ↗
One of the policies that we took to
the election, and I am pleased to say has been very successful, was our
Aboriginal procurement policy. It was very much designed around ensuring that
Aboriginal businesses across Western Australia—regional and
metropolitan—get the opportunity to access a small part of the very
significant procurement spend of government each year. Over the years, a range
of different policies have tried to promote Aboriginal businesses, but, to be
honest, they have not worked. Over the years, we have seen very small and
infrequent contracts awarded to Aboriginal-owned businesses. We held our second
Aboriginal Business Expo last week, with some 280 Aboriginal businesses being
married up with the effort of government spending. That is working. Our target—it
is a small target—for the first year of the policy was one per cent of
contracts being awarded to Aboriginal-owned businesses. That has come in at
4.77 per cent in year one. We report that by agency. What we see is that some
agencies have done very well and some agencies have not done quite so well, but
the point is to ensure that those agencies that are not meeting those targets
are certainly encouraged to do so. That has resulted in some 179 contracts with
a total value exceeding $167 million. It is around triple the number of
contracts awarded before the policy was introduced.
I want to make the point that this
is not just small contracts that we are talking about. We have contracts up to $97 million through the WA Country Health Service,
Minister for Health, which is a very, very good contract for the provision of health services across the Kimberley. This is the practical
reality of what can happen when one has a policy, puts effort into that policy,
develops it in opposition, takes it to an election and implements it. That is why we are now seeing Aboriginal businesses in Western
Australia having more opportunity for contracts; as a result, there is
more opportunity to bring on Aboriginal people, because we know that
Aboriginal-owned businesses are more likely to employ Aboriginal people; as a result,
across Western Australia, we are seeing very, very good outcomes. Now that we
have moved to two per cent, we want to not only see extra effort from those
government agencies that have met the target to continue to do so, but also
ensure that those agencies that have not met the targets can learn from other
agencies and Aboriginal businesses and learn from those expos so that we get
that sort of work flowing into Aboriginal businesses, create jobs, create
opportunity and continue the economic growth that this state government has managed
to return to our state.
the election, and I am pleased to say has been very successful, was our
Aboriginal procurement policy. It was very much designed around ensuring that
Aboriginal businesses across Western Australia—regional and
metropolitan—get the opportunity to access a small part of the very
significant procurement spend of government each year. Over the years, a range
of different policies have tried to promote Aboriginal businesses, but, to be
honest, they have not worked. Over the years, we have seen very small and
infrequent contracts awarded to Aboriginal-owned businesses. We held our second
Aboriginal Business Expo last week, with some 280 Aboriginal businesses being
married up with the effort of government spending. That is working. Our target—it
is a small target—for the first year of the policy was one per cent of
contracts being awarded to Aboriginal-owned businesses. That has come in at
4.77 per cent in year one. We report that by agency. What we see is that some
agencies have done very well and some agencies have not done quite so well, but
the point is to ensure that those agencies that are not meeting those targets
are certainly encouraged to do so. That has resulted in some 179 contracts with
a total value exceeding $167 million. It is around triple the number of
contracts awarded before the policy was introduced.
I want to make the point that this
is not just small contracts that we are talking about. We have contracts up to $97 million through the WA Country Health Service,
Minister for Health, which is a very, very good contract for the provision of health services across the Kimberley. This is the practical
reality of what can happen when one has a policy, puts effort into that policy,
develops it in opposition, takes it to an election and implements it. That is why we are now seeing Aboriginal businesses in Western
Australia having more opportunity for contracts; as a result, there is
more opportunity to bring on Aboriginal people, because we know that
Aboriginal-owned businesses are more likely to employ Aboriginal people; as a result,
across Western Australia, we are seeing very, very good outcomes. Now that we
have moved to two per cent, we want to not only see extra effort from those
government agencies that have met the target to continue to do so, but also
ensure that those agencies that have not met the targets can learn from other
agencies and Aboriginal businesses and learn from those expos so that we get
that sort of work flowing into Aboriginal businesses, create jobs, create
opportunity and continue the economic growth that this state government has managed
to return to our state.
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