Mr McCARTHY - 2014-02-18
Last week in the House you said you were driving the economy of Alice Springs. It was a vibrant town where businesses are thriving; this is despite the Chamber of Commerce saying you had no vision. Businesses are shutting up shop and trying to tell you they are finding it tough, but you refuse to listen. A long-term business has taken the extraordinary step of placing an advertisement in the Advocate to get the message across, to hold you to account, Chief Minister. When will you listen to Red Centre Pest Control? When will you stop ignoring businesses like Red Centre Pest Control, which says you are destroying local business and failing with CLP promises to Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the questions get better and better every time we are here.
The shadow minister for - I am not sure which portfolio that question was from. The shadow minister asking the question would be well aware that Red Centre Pest Control has gone through a procurement process and we have to be very careful about what we talk about in regard to procurement. I can say, however, one of Mr Billington’s concerns was that somebody outside of the Territory happened to bid on the business in Alice Springs. He is very upset about this and he raised with me in a radio interview how someone from outside the Territory won the business. In fact, the person who won the tender resides in Alice Springs and will be doing the pest control from Alice Springs.
Whenever there is a tender process, someone wins and others lose. It is not always good for the people who did not come first and I appreciate the position Mr Billington and Red Centre Pest Control are coming from. One of Mr Billington’s main concerns was how people can tender in Alice Springs if they do not live in Alice Springs and how dare someone get that business; it should be protected for Alice Springs businesses. We run a competitive model in our procurement process where people can tender for work in Darwin or regional areas of the Territory such as Alice Springs.
The other interesting component within the procurement process is there is a weighting component offered within it across a range of areas, including past performance and price. One of those is around local development and how much the local company reinvests into the community: how it employs Indigenous trainees, employees and so forth. There is a component illustrated within there. I cannot talk about the weightings, obviously, because it is a confidential procurement process.
What I can share is, while Red Centre Pest Control and Dave Billington were concerned someone from Darwin should dare put in a bid for business in Alice Springs, what people do not know is Dave Billington and Red Centre Pest Control put in a bid to get business out of Darwin. It would seem a bit of the pot calling the kettle black or what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Someone has won business in Alice Springs, and it is not Red Centre Pest Control, but he was bidding for business in Darwin.
Mr McCarthy: This is great material for Alice Springs.
Mr GILES: Great material for Darwin. The winners of the tender are people who reside in Alice Springs. It is not the same company as before. While Dave Billington might be unhappy that he was not successful in the tender through the procurement process, we have to make sure we get the best bang for buck, the best content we can, and we are satisfied with the process.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the questions get better and better every time we are here.
The shadow minister for - I am not sure which portfolio that question was from. The shadow minister asking the question would be well aware that Red Centre Pest Control has gone through a procurement process and we have to be very careful about what we talk about in regard to procurement. I can say, however, one of Mr Billington’s concerns was that somebody outside of the Territory happened to bid on the business in Alice Springs. He is very upset about this and he raised with me in a radio interview how someone from outside the Territory won the business. In fact, the person who won the tender resides in Alice Springs and will be doing the pest control from Alice Springs.
Whenever there is a tender process, someone wins and others lose. It is not always good for the people who did not come first and I appreciate the position Mr Billington and Red Centre Pest Control are coming from. One of Mr Billington’s main concerns was how people can tender in Alice Springs if they do not live in Alice Springs and how dare someone get that business; it should be protected for Alice Springs businesses. We run a competitive model in our procurement process where people can tender for work in Darwin or regional areas of the Territory such as Alice Springs.
The other interesting component within the procurement process is there is a weighting component offered within it across a range of areas, including past performance and price. One of those is around local development and how much the local company reinvests into the community: how it employs Indigenous trainees, employees and so forth. There is a component illustrated within there. I cannot talk about the weightings, obviously, because it is a confidential procurement process.
What I can share is, while Red Centre Pest Control and Dave Billington were concerned someone from Darwin should dare put in a bid for business in Alice Springs, what people do not know is Dave Billington and Red Centre Pest Control put in a bid to get business out of Darwin. It would seem a bit of the pot calling the kettle black or what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Someone has won business in Alice Springs, and it is not Red Centre Pest Control, but he was bidding for business in Darwin.
Mr McCarthy: This is great material for Alice Springs.
Mr GILES: Great material for Darwin. The winners of the tender are people who reside in Alice Springs. It is not the same company as before. While Dave Billington might be unhappy that he was not successful in the tender through the procurement process, we have to make sure we get the best bang for buck, the best content we can, and we are satisfied with the process.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016