Multi Outcome Construction Policy (final report)

Several of the head contractors and subcontractors that we interviewed identifiedbenefits from the Indigenous Employment Policy but highlighted problems associatedwith its focus only on short term employment creation. They perceived that thebenefits of the policy disappeared with the completion of a government constructionproject, with this result being due, in large part to the lack of economic activity inremote Indigenous communities.One of the contractors stated that:“There have been some great positive outcomes. If we can go into acommunity and you’ve got eighteen, nineteen, twenty year old indigenous kidsthat tend to sit around the park and there is nothing for them to do. All of asudden, having a reason to get up and come to work, even if it is only for sixhours a day, look, that’s a great outcome. Not necessarily for the indigenouscommunity themselves, but for that individual, all of a sudden they’ve gotsome purpose. What is the downside is when the project is finished? All of asudden that kid’s back to sitting in the park, going now all of a sudden ‘I’vegot no self-esteem, again’.”On a positive note, one contractor commented that they had taken on some youngindigenous people as apprentices, who had worked on government constructionprojects covered by the policy. However, he also noted that this meant that they hadhad to leave their remote communities.Costs and Benefits of the Local Industry PolicyThe Local Industry Policy applies not only to Queensland government building andconstruction projects, but also to the procurement of goods and services in otherindustries such as manufacturing. As such, the costs and benefits discussed in thissection apply to all industries covered by the policy.As has been the case with most of the policies surveyed in this report, the LocalIndustry Policy appears to have generated small additional administrative costs andsome concerns about anti-competitive effects.87