Most of the ACT government's big construction contracts are going to the cheapest tenderer, a new document reveals.
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It's a trend creating an environment in which safety comes second, ACT's construction union says.
The ACT Greens asked the government in March to table a list of large construction tenders, noting which of the winning companies were also the companies offering the cheapest price.
ACT Treasurer Andrew Barr's response showed 23 of 26 projects in 2011-12 went to the cheapest tenderer. Of the remaining three projects, only one went to the highest tenderer. Another went to the second lowest tenderer, and in one instance there was only one company bidding for the project. Pricing for another 14 projects, including the Belconnen-Civic transitway and the duplication of the Gungahlin Drive Extension, are missing from the document because the government ''did not have time to go through the myriad of files''.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said the 26 government construction projects were among hundreds of others in the same year.
CFMEU ACT branch secretary Dean Hall said the latest figures confirmed the union's fears that safety standards in the industry were deteriorating because of the government's purchasing power. ''If you're solely bidding all the time on one criteria and that is the price, then of course it sends a message to the people tendering that the most important and only thing we're worried about is price,'' Mr Hall said.
''The government is encouraging contractors to adopt safety standards that are worse than their competitors because proper safety does cost money.
''If you don't put safety first, you run the real possibility of seriously injuring people or killing people.'' Mr Barr said organisations' safety records were taken into account when assessing the risks of each tender. The government responded to concerns over safety at territory worksites earlier this year, saying: ''The government does not simply select tenders on the basis of price.''
Greens MLA Amanda Bresnan said the government was the largest purchaser of construction projects in the ACT and had a responsibility to enforce safety on work sites by setting a standard for the industry.
''In 90 per cent of cases they [the ACT government] went for the cheapest contract … we're creating an environment where contractors know they have to provide the cheapest price to get the tender,'' Ms Bresnan said.
''Corners are cut, and safety becomes compromised. From the answers we've got back, that's the sort of environment we're operating in when it comes to contracting.''