BPIC Qld: Tenders reissued as LNP scraps contracts

Tenders for construction projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been torn up by bureaucrats after the government axed what it labels the CFMEU building tax.

Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie on Tuesday

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Tenders for construction projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been torn up by bureaucrats after government axed what it labels the CFMEU building tax.

The state government this month paused the Best Practice Industry Conditions Policy – introduced by the Labor government – it argued sapped productivity and could cost the economy $17.1bn by 2030.

The Courier-Mail can reveal, in response to the policy’s pause, government departments are pulling construction project tenders before retesting the market in the hope they can be built cheaper.

A contract to build Townsville University Hospital’s $530m expansion was pulled by Queensland Health after BPIC was paused by Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie in November.

“Work is continuing on the Townsville University Hospital expansion to deliver better healthcare services for the region by late 2026,” a spokesman said.

“The removal of Best Practice Industry Conditions and the need for subcontractor prequalification gives us greater ability to re-test the market in early 2025 to secure a suitable building contractor that represents value for money and increases local jobs.”

Stage one of the project involved designing the expansion and stage two includes the construction phase.

An artist’s impression of the Townsville University Hospital redevelopment

Design work has been finalised, but Queensland Health will seek the best-value-for-money outcome.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the project cost had increased to $1bn and argued returning to market would “save” the project.

“This is the best way forward for ensuring completion of the hospital in Townsville and sends a clear signal to the market that we want to improve productivity and provide better value for money for Queensland taxpayers,” he said.

It is understood Transport and Main Roads Department tenders could also be withdrawn and retested at the discretion of executives.

There is no direction from the Premier’s office for all unassigned contracts to be pulled.

Mr Bleijie said taxpayers would see better value and more productivity following the axing of BPIC.

“It’ll save billions of dollars and Queenslanders will be all the better for it,” he said.

“Deals are being done with construction companies in Queensland and the world didn’t cave in because we didn’t have BPIC on those deals.”

Dubbed the CFMEU tax by the state government, BPIC was held responsible for infrastructure blowouts on major projects.

The union previously slammed it as a lie and argued it was being used as a scapegoat.

Major Contractors Association president Andrew Chapman said the “vibe is good” in the construction sector following the change of government.

“We’ve got a government prepared to have the honest conversation about what we can do and how we can do things better,” he said.

“To unravel BPIC it’s going to take a while because there’s a lot of lingering issues with it.

“Industry is more positive we can have a constructive relationship to deliver projects safely and productively.”