Rockhampton business owners up in arms over $2.25 billion Shoalwater Bay project contracts

“I would estimate we have spent $500,000 on new equipment on the back of these new works coming, put on more staff, increased our presence, we have taken up a new yard, we have done everything that we can to present ourselves and we aren’t getting the opportunities.”

More Rockhampton-based businesses are raising their angry voices they didn’t get a look in for works in the $2.25 billion Shoalwater Bay Training Area upgrades.

The Morning Bulletin spoke with SMW Group director Jack Trenaman last month who was calling on the Department of Defence to look at redefining the word ‘local’ in its terms and conditions to reflect a business that has been operating in the Rockhampton region and not those that opened an empty storefront just in time for the project.

Joining the outcry is Garry Vincent from On Hire Rentals and Arty Stokes from Stokes Mining Services.

The pair was vying for equipment hire and labour hire contracts on the project.

“We went to all the meetings, shook all the hands with the right people, did everything we could and all we got was a 126-page document to fill within one day, just for one telehandler,” Mr Vincent said.

“We were ticking all the right boxes for us to do the works.

“We had everything together and listened to their advice and put together what we thought was the perfect package and at the end of the day we got one offer.”

Mr Vincent only received back an offer for the hire of one piece of equipment and Mr Stokes heard nothing – a kick in the guts for what had been years in the making.

“Twelve months of attending meetings, breakfasts, every time they had an event, we were there, we were taking time out of work places to go and attend these things and to meet with them, put programs together and have meetings ourselves,” Mr Vincent said.

“I would estimate we have spent $500,000 on new equipment on the back of these new works coming, put on more staff, increased our presence, we have taken up a new yard, we have done everything that we can to present ourselves and we aren’t getting the opportunities.

“It has become untenable for us as small business owners to tender for 126 page documents in 24 hours.”

Mr Stokes said it was ‘all warm and fuzzy stuff’ in the beginning and Defence was ‘telling us what we needed to hear’.

“I just got the standard thanks, but no thanks, they are only using you for a price check,” he claimed.

“I supply to the Anglos, Glencore, the big international players... but I am not good enough to work for something local.”

The project is managed by Laing O’Rourke, an international company with a head office in the United Kingdom.

“The managing companies are using their own companies within their companies to beat us down and beat our pricing,” Mr Vincent said.

“When this is over, they are gone again, that isn’t local… we are supporting the community, sports fields, sponsorships.”

According to the Department of Defence, for the facility upgrades projects 62 work packages out of 93 has been awarded to companies in the Rockhampton, Livingstone, Mackay, Emerald, Moranbah and Gladstone areas, to the value of $286 million.

For remediation project, which is delivered by Downer and FKG, 48 out of 60 work pages have been awarded to local companies in the Central Queensland region, to the value of $71 million.

The pair argues that businesses should be considered on where their head office is based.

“The major projects that are happening around Central Queensland, there is a lot of push from the federal government on local content and the local content hasn’t been defined as Rockhampton or Central Queensland, they are Brisbane centric or an Australian company,” Mr Vincent said.

“The local businesses aren’t getting the 80 per cent we were promised, the businesses aren’t developing on the back of it, we aren’t getting the opportunity to do it.

“Most of it is fly in, fly out employees and the locals are missing out on the opportunities.”

A community forum is being called to provide transparency.

“(We want to) hear from the management companies where the 80 per cent local content is,” Mr Vincent said.

“If we don’t put our hand up now, we are going to miss out all together.”