Tasmanian companies could stand a greater chance of winning state government contracts, after the government this week acted on an a key election promise by changing procurement regulations to favour local companies.
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Treasurer Michael Ferguson said the change to regulations surrounding the Buy Local policy would mean that the weighting of the test gauging whether tenders would benefit the Tasmanian community had been increased from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
"In evaluating the tenders, the benefits to Tasmanian industry are among the factors considered in the tendering process," he said.
"The Tasmanian Liberal Government has increased the weighting of the Economic and Social Benefits Test to 30 per cent," Mr Ferguson said.
"By increasing the weighting, we are helping Tasmanian businesses and suppliers to secure more government contracts."
The procurement test became a focus of criticism last year, after state-owned forestry company Sustainable Timber Tasmania awarded a haulage contract to a Victorian company over a Tasmanian family-owned business.
It was later found that STT was not bound by the Buy Local policy, which applies only to state government procurements.
STT's local benefits test was weighted at just 5 per cent, meaning Tasmanian companies seeking to tender would not be given much advantage in the process against interstate rivals.
Despite that, STT said at the time that most of its tenders had been won by local companies.
Then-Resources Minister Felix Ellis confirmed that STT applied a 5 per cent advantage to Tasmanian tenderers across all of its harvest and transport contracts.
"I have asked STT to see what more can be done to ensure Tassie jobs are supported," Mr Ellis said at the time.
In news likely to disappoint some Tasmanian timber-industry participants, the latest change to the Buy Local policy does not affect the weighting used by companies like STT.
Mr Ferguson said government business enterprises "are required to consider the application of the government's Buy Local policy requirements" in their procurement processes.
But he noted that companies had an "obligation" to adhere to national competition regulations.
This week Mr Ferguson noted that the increase in the weighting of the local benefit test would benefit companies such as Andrew Walter Constructions, which won a $28 million contract to upgrade the West Tamar Highway earlier this year.
"This $28 million contract was awarded to the Tasmanian civil engineering company, delivering 120 direct and indirect jobs for Tasmanians," he said.
"The wages of these 120 people will flow directly into all parts of the broader Tasmanian economy in the form of goods and services purchased."