ANY change to the Tasmanian Government’s procurement guidelines to favour local business during the current economic downturn would bring significant disadvantages.

Tasmania’s peak employer body, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (TCCI) says such a move would be risky and could lead to retaliatory action by other state governments and in overseas markets.

“For this reason alone, the TCCI rejects calls for State Government procurement guidelines to be changed to artificially favour local business,” said TCCI chief economist Richard Dowling.

“At all times, the State Government should be seeking to maximise value for money through its procurement policy,” he said.

“If the State Government was to artificially favour local tenders it would prompt retaliatory action from other governments and this would severely disadvantage Tasmanian businesses tendering for jobs interstate or overseas.

“Competitive Tasmanian businesses will win tenders in their own right and don’t need special deals.”

Mr Dowling said that taxpayers deserved to have their money spent efficiently and effectively.

“Tasmania is a signatory to national and international agreements on government procurement and to walk away from such agreements would set very risky precedent indeed,” Mr Dowling said.

The TCCI view is in line with the Government’s position where Treasurer Michael Aird has rejected calls for the Government to change its guidelines, giving local businesses a better chance of winning tenders.

Mr Aird said Tasmanian companies did remarkably well under the present procurement guidelines.

“Any level of artificial influence on policy by procurement can be a very dangerous exercise for those very businesses,” he said.

“There are strict competition guidelines which can, if we’re in contravention of them, influence other states to start having similar type procurement guidelines which could exclude Tasmanian businesses having access to their markets.”

Mr Aird said a more positive approach for the Government was to provide a lifeline to struggling businesses with solid long-term futures to assist them in dealing with the short-term problems caused by the global financial crisis.