John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities, I present the committee's report entitled Government procurement: A sovereign security imperative, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—This inquiry into procurement and government funded infrastructure became more significant and timelier than first thought and therefore vitally important to the governing of Australia now and well into the future. This inquiry is a prime example of the power of parliamentary inquiries, peopled by those with a genuine desire to discover the facts on which to base their recommendations. As with many inquiries, the evidence put forward and the issues of the day challenged the initial thinking that spurred the inquiry in the first place.

The issue of gender equality in the workplace, sovereign security, the importance of long-term visionary planning of infrastructure and understanding the difference between the lowest price and best value became central themes. The predominance of men, who occupy 88 per cent of the construction workforce, up from 83 per cent just a few years earlier, highlights the opportunity cost the industry is facing, which is a risk to its longer-term sustainability and its capacity to scale up and meet future labour demands. Despite the well-intentioned efforts to date to address this issue in some quarters, more needs to be done to address the cultural practices and norms within the construction industry that disincentivise women from entering and staying. As with medicine, the first action is to identify the illness and then prescribe the treatment to affect wellbeing. There is scope for the construction industry to evolve, as other industries have done, to be one where all members of the community feel they can consider a career, an industry where the most qualified can be employed and work in an environment of respect and mutual support.

Sovereign security has in recent times become an important issue for our country, as tensions with great trading partner countries come into sharp focus, with real concerns for the impact this has on our exports and the flow-on effects to our economy. Over many decades, sovereign security has been compromised because there has been no-one on the watchtower looking out for the clear and present risks that have emerged from our expedient choices in seeking the lowest price as opposed to the best value in our procurement processes.

The lack of long-term planning for major infrastructure projects has resulted in a piecemeal, ad hoc and reactive delivery process which thwarts the development of efficiencies in the construction industry that could be attained if there were a steady pipeline of projects available. Industry needs the confidence to gear up in line with the opportunities available, which would build up industry capacity and productivity through an increased critical mass. Essential to achieving sector growth is the critical need for the three tiers of government to align in support of long-term collaborative planning.

The COVID recovery program, which centres around vastly increased spending on infrastructure, provides the opportunity and the need to improve working relationships between the three tiers of government. Measures need to be put in place that promote long-term planning and greater breadth and depth in Australia's industry, including entities with a $1 billion-plus per project tier 1 delivery capability, which is sadly lacking now. Responsible spending of our taxpayers' money should be a prime concern. Therefore, a systemised mechanism must be put in place that ensures value for money at every stage of government procurement.

Our committee did not originally foresee the full gravity of the issues that would emerge as the inquiry progressed. With the growing threat of coercive trade threats and bans, particularly from China and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we now have a sovereign vulnerability that in more stable times may have remained unseen. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. This inquiry should stimulate a new era of vigilance.

I thank inquiry participants and each member of our committee for their contributions. I also give my thanks to the committee secretariat—in particular, Samantha Mannette, Nicolette Cilia and Lachlan Wilson for their work—and, in particular, our co-chair and my dear friend and tennis partner, Luke Gosling. It has been great to work with you. Again, this has been an example where well-intentioned people from both sides work together and produce a great result. I'm indebted to you, and, while I won't be seeing you as much in the future, Luke, I will come back and play tennis with you. I thank the House, and I commend the report to the House.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I just wanted to acknowledge John Alexander, the Chair of the Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee, on the work of this inquiry and the previous inquiries. Your contribution to this place in this role has been immense. You can be really proud of this report.

I want to also acknowledge the other members of the committee but in particular the member for Forde of the government members of the committee. I really got a lot out of his contribution to our frequent meetings and to the journey that we went on during this inquiry. I want to thank the Labor members, my comrades—the member for Scullin, Andrew Giles; and the member for Lalor, Jo Ryan—for their support as well, as we move through the inquiries of this parliament but in particular with this inquiry that we are tabling today.

I want to join the member for Bennelong in thanking all the staff that supported us in this inquiry—Lachlan Wilson, the committee secretary; Sam Mannette, the inquiry secretary; Nicolette Cilia, a researcher; Ben Vea Vea, a researcher; Jazmine Rakic, the office manager; and everyone who was involved in bringing this report to be tabled today.

As I said, I think it is a fine work and, as the member for Bennelong said, the result of great bipartisan action in the national interest. That is what is required to happen more and more in this place if we are going to meet the challenges of our future. Government procurement, billions of dollars of taxpayer funds and also the funds that we're loading up future generations with in terms of debt must be used to make sure that our sovereign security is enhanced and strengthened. I think this report makes some very good recommendations. I won't go over the ground that the member for Bennelong has already covered, but those recommendations should be taken seriously by the incoming government after this upcoming election so that, in particular, Australian companies get a better go and we have cultures in our industry that mean that we get the most out of all Australians, not just the blokes in the 88 per cent that he mentioned.

I won't go through the recommendations in detail, but I did want to point to recommendation 6, which sees increasing access to Commonwealth funded projects for tier 2 and tier 3 companies and related Australian small and medium enterprises. That's how we will build the capacity of our nation to provide jobs for our own people but also to make sure that more taxpayer funds stay in Australian companies, developing them up through the tiers. We want to see more Australian tier 1 companies in the future so that more of our funds stay in the nation.

Again, to the member for Bennelong: I wish you all the best for your future. You've not only made a sterling contribution to our nation in sport; in this place, through previous inquiries, you have made a real difference in terms of opening people's eyes to how we can better fund our infrastructure, and, in this inquiry, to how we can make sure that the infrastructure that's funded by the Commonwealth has more benefit and strengthens the sovereignty of our industrial capacity in our country. I thank you very much.

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.