2023 Procurement and Contract Management Awards for Excellence

Acknowledgements omitted

I am here to thank each of you as procurement and contract management professionals.

Public servants who give your skill, talent, diligence and determination.

You ensure we get the absolute best value for money for your fellow Australians.

And everywhere you go in Government there is a procurement story.

Even at the National Library of Australia.

There are literally contract management and procurement books on the shelves.

But better than the books on the shelves is the story of this building.

The original National Library was on Kings Avenue where the Edmund Barton Building now sits.

It was built in 1934.

A new, special, Australian made glass was purchased to protect the books.

The building cost 13,000 pounds.

A bargain compared to the 80,000 pounds being spent in Sydney on the NSW State Library.

But that saving hid a fact.

The National Library was only one fifth built.

Entire wings existed on paper, but were waiting for more funding to build and house the national collection.

The rest of the 100,000 pound vision was on hold.

Then Australia faced World War II.

Prime Minister Curtin’s priorities were rightly elsewhere.

And it was not until 1960 when Prime Minister Menzies agreed to a new library.

He wanted “something with columns”.

The designs had 17 columns along the length of the building.

But then a saving needed to be found.

To save $250,000, a column was removed.

Leaving this building one column short of the Pantheon which it was inspired by.

And so 1968 saw the demolition of the old National Library and the opening of the $8 million building we are in today.

A building home to a collection that grows by 2.5 kilometres each year.

So from a scaled down library, to the scale of Commonwealth procurement.

A big, innovative spend

The Australian Government buys a lot.

In financial year 22-23 there were over 80,000 contracts published on Austender.

At an average of 12 pages per contract, that is 259,200 kilometres of contracts.

Enough paper to stretch from my electorate of Perth to Canberra, 83 times.

A combined value of $74.8 billion.

That’s about the same amount that Elon Musk paid to purchase Twitter.

Although, as these awards show, Australia gets much better value for money.

I note that figure of $74.8 billion does not include spending on goods and services below $10,000.

On its own, $74.8 billion is a lot of money.

It equates to almost 3 per cent of our national gross domestic product.

It is through this spending that we deliver services to the Australian public.

And it is how we support small businesses.

I echo the commitment of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher that we want Commonwealth procurement to support small businesses and Australian jobs.

We also want innovation.

Because how we spend taxpayer money has a real impact on industry and businesses.

Whether it is blockchain to track where recycled materials are going.

Self-sticking carpet.

Or ensuring that we tap into under-utilised communities.

Given the size and impact of our spending, it is important that we get it right.

It is entirely fitting that we gather today to celebrate and acknowledge the excellence that has been achieved in this space.

As Assistant Minister for the Public Service, I am committed to uplifting capability in the public service.

Ensuring that the APS has the capability to deliver services for the Australian public is particularly important to me.

Applying the Strategic Commissioning Framework

Last month, the Government released the Strategic Commissioning Framework.

Boring name, exciting outcomes.

The Framework sets out quite simply that the core work of the APS must be done by our core workforce – APS employees.

And where external arrangements are used, the knowledge must be transferred to the public service.

This will continue to build capability and reduce our reliance on external arrangements.

You as procuring officers and contract managers are front and centre in ensuring the Framework is applied.

You already know that price isn’t the only factor when assessing value for money.

Now you will support your entities transition away from a reliance on external arrangements.

Building APS Procurement and Contract Management capability

With the new Strategic Commissioning Framework comes a renewed focus to strengthen the capability of the APS.

Enhanced capabilities around how we spend money will benefit both the APS and all Australians.

And so, I am thrilled to see this year that amongst the categories is an award for Building Entity Capability.

There have been a number of outstanding nominations in this category.

Making it one of the most hotly contested categories in recent years.

I also understand that this category has been around since the inception of the awards.

It is fantastic to see the continued commitment by the APS to prioritise and build its capability.

Importantly, building capability in the APS is not a set and forget task.

It requires continuous work and commitment from entities.

Last year’s winner in this category, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry have embodied this spirit.

They have worked with a range of entities to help build capability across the public service.

Passing on advice and lessons from their own journey, including working with the Department of Finance and the APSC to develop resources that all APS officials can use.

This continuous commitment and drive is what is needed if we are going to build the capability of APS.

I challenge all of this year’s recipients to not let their journey end here.

Work with your entity and your colleagues across the APS to share your learnings.

Continue building that capability and delivering for the Australian public.

Implementing the Buy Australian Plan

Over the past year the Government has been implementing the Buy Australian Plan.

The Plan is an important piece of procurement reform.

We take our role of strengthening Australian industries seriously.

Of course we should use Government buying power to improve economic, social and environmental outcomes for Australians.

The Plan will make it easier to do business with the Australian Government.

We will build the capability in the APS and in businesses to allow them to be more competitive.

The Buy Australia Plan is also about backing small and medium enterprises, as well as Indigenous and regional businesses.

And engaging with suppliers who are doing the right thing, especially by their employees.

We want all these outcomes, without the barriers of additional complexity.

The recipients of the awards today have managed to balance those challenges.

The new categories of: ‘Encouraging Environmental Sustainability’ and ‘Generating Broader Benefits to the Australian Economy through Procurement’ celebrate this.

Those nominated certainly embodied the spirit of the Buy Australian Plan.

There were nominations that sought to maximise engagement with Indigenous communities.

And nominations to reduce the waste they produced, or the energy entities use.

Other nominations sought ways to make use of under-utilised workforces.

Or build confidence in industry to use new products or smaller firms.

I commend all who nominated and all who approach procurement as a strategic tool to support the work of Government.

Conclusion

I began today by speaking about the building of two National Libraries.

Buildings that held the original copies of the Constitution and the papers of the first Australian Cabinet.

This building represents Stewardship.

The newest APS value, but one which has been demonstrated on this land for millennia and has been a key to the success of the Federation.

A value that you demonstrate every day in your work.

A spirit of stewardship that gets value and outcomes for all Australians.

On behalf of the government and on behalf of Australian taxpayers, thank you.