August 3, 2018 McGowan’s toothless Jobs Bill sends another contract overseas The McGowan Government’s commitment to West Australian jobs has again been shown to be just spin with the granting of a $553,600 government contract to Canadian company Cetacea. Shadow Minister for Government Accountability Tjorn Sibma said the contract for the design and construction of a frame to hold the 24m blue whale skeleton in the new museum should have gone to a WA company to create jobs for West Australians. “The Liberal Opposition supported the WA Jobs Bill because Premier Mark McGowan gave assurance after assurance it would lead to WA companies getting priority consideration for government tenders,” Mr Sibma said. “It’s a bit hard for the Premier to claim there is no company in WA that could do the work when we know there is no company in WA that can currently build rail cars but he’s committed to building rail cars in WA. “He also can’t claim it is because Cetacea was the most cost competitive tenderer when we know he was prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars more for a WA company to build the Matagarup Bridge. “Industries with unionised workforces that support the Australian Labor Party seem to be the only ones getting very good mileage out of the McGowan Government’s WA Jobs Bill.” Mr Sibma said the Cetacea contract was the latest in a string of contracts the Premier had allowed to go to overseas while the jobless rate in WA remained the highest in the nation. “The letting of the Perth rail communications network contract to Chinese company Huawei, sent $136 million directly into the coffers of an overseas company despite there being significant national security concerns about that company’s operations,” Mr Sibma said. “A French company won the tender to supply cutlery to the Perth Stadium, whereas last time I checked it was still possible to buy knives and forks in WA. “These are just more examples of hypocrisy by the Premier, who says one thing and does exactly the opposite.” Shadow Minister for Culture and Arts Tony Krsticevic said it was a shame that the blue whale display, which would be the centrepiece of the State’s new museum, would not be built by a local company. “This is a missed opportunity for a local company to showcase to visitors from all over the world what we can do in Western Australia,” Mr Krsticevic said. Media Contact |
