Cairns Convention Centre upgrade: Palaszczuk defends contract policy
The Premier has held firm on local participation quotas applied to the Cairns Convention Centre project, despite tender documents revealing many major work packages have gone south. See the list of who the contracts went to.
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THE Premier and Public Works Minister have held firm on local participation quotas applied to the $176m Cairns Convention Centre upgrade despite tender documents revealing many major work packages have been awarded to southern firms.
While smaller packages such as security CCTV, rubbish removal, artwork, general equipment hire, signage, fire protection and temporary fencing have gone to Cairns-based firms larger jobs remain dominated by Brisbane and Townsville companies.
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Electrical, pile driving, hydraulics, AV systems, roof replacement and scaffolding contracts were won by out of town firms.
Ceilings doors and mechanical contracts have been shared between Cairns and southern companies.
During an official sod turning ceremony onsite at the Convention Centre on Wednesday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said local workers had been employed on the upgrade.
“We have just met local workers on local projects …$176m is a big investment in Cairns,” she said.
“This is going to be a fantastic Convention Centre … it’s exactly what Cairns and the tropical Far North need to kick start tourism when we can get to that stage.”
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Flanked by Mick de Brenni the Public Works Minister defended the best practice test case on regional government large scale building projects which had been criticised for paying wages far higher than workers on non-government sites.
“We have set a standard where we believe workers should get good wages, good conditions, a safe workplace and I have spoken to workers on site this morning and think its fair,” he said.
“We always think it’s fair to make sure workers get the wages they deserve.
“I don’t accept the premise that driving down wages is a good outcome for the Cairns economy
“Everybody wants to see workers get a decent wage. Men and women on this project do tough work, they are professionals and they deserve decent pay.”
AWARDED WORK PACKAGES
Ceilings partitions and doors
Hufcor Pty Limited, Brisbane
North West Commercial Industries, Cairns
Electrical services and cabling
Stowe Australia Pty Ltd, Brisbane
Fire protection services
Endfire Engineering Services, Cairns
Hydraulics
Cooke & Dowsett, Brisbane
Mechanical services
Pritchard Pacific, Brisbane
Value Added Construction, Cairns
Veolia Energy & Technical Services, Ipswich
Security access system and CCTV
Sciban Electronic Security, Cairns
Artwork
Posh Lifestyle, Cairns
AV system
Fredon Technology, Logan
Furniture installation
Maxwood Technology Australia, Sydney
General equipment hire
Ausco Modular, Cairns
Rubbish removal
Suez Recycling & Recovery, Cairns
Piling
Keller, Brisbane
Roof replacement
Matz Roofing, Townsville
Scaffold
Cava Scaffold Solutions, Townsville
Signage internal and external
Status Signs, Cairns
Temporary fencing
TFH Hire Services, Cairns
Originally published as Cairns Convention Centre upgrade: Palaszczuk defends contract policy