Page 2983 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
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QUESTION NO. 493
Tendering and Purchasing Processes
MR STEFANIAK: Asked the Minister for Urban Services:
In the light of recent complaints about ACT Administrations recent handling of certain tenders -
(1) Will the government give an undertaking to supervise and ensure fairness in the tendering and purchasing processes in the ACT.
(2) Will the government undertake to maintain fairness and support to local businesses in those processes, especially with regard to government purchases and developments.
TERRY CONNOLLY - the answer to the Members question is as follows:
Current government policy is to conduct our purchasing activities with the objective of obtaining best value for money in an environment of, and through, open and effective competition. This is consistent with the Commonwealth purchasing reforms, and reforms being implemented by other States.
Both minor and major purchasing and tendering activities are governed by the Australian Capital Territory Purchasing Manual, which has been issued as supplementary Directions under Finance Regulation 81.
Requirements under the Manual include mandates on ethical and fair dealing. Besides being required to use the "Guidelines on Official Conduct of Commonwealth Public Servants" and the "Bowen Code Of Conduct", Territory purchasing officers have these additional responsibilities:
". Officers should ensure the best interests of the Territory are maintained in all transactions and agreements;
Officers should ensure that their actions comply with the policies of the Territory; and
Officers are to procure or dispose of goods and services without bias or prejudice, seeking to obtain best value for money."
The Member will by now be aware of my public statement of Monday 12 August, in which I stressed that while the ACT Government, as a signatory to the National Preference Agreement, cannot actively bias its purchasing towards geographically local suppliers, local suppliers have a strategic advantage in competing for ACT Government business, in that they can, where all else is equal, offer benefits such as more immediate delivery and more accessible after-sales support.
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