Procurement

The development of partnerships and resource sharing within the Far North Queensland region is acknowledged as being integral to ongoing regional capacity and service delivery. The culture of resource sharing is well developed within the FNQROC region with significant achievements in sharing common planning tasks, strategic directions and funding priorities.

Procurement activities are to operate within these guidelines:

Where there exists limited supply for a product and/or service, and/or
Where member councils are competing against each other for the same goods and/or services.

Meetings are held regularly with both the General Procurement Committee and the Water and Waste Treatment Committee.

Latest News

(see our Newsletter for all FNQROC news...)

Local Buy Procurement Conference

I attended the Local Buy Procurement Conference in Brisbane last month. Topics covered ranged from OH&S and Procurement, Carbon Pricing, Change Management, Category Management and a Legal and Probity Panel. For those with access, see http://www.localbuy.net.au/ProcurementConference.htm.

From the conference I was able to secure a forthcoming presentation by David Honeyman, Principal Prevention Advisor (Misconduct) from the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC). David will present at the next FNQROC Procurement Group meeting in Mareeba on 4 May 2012.

March FNQROC Procurement Group meeting

Konrad Chmielewski, Director of Education and Engagement for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), presented to the Procurement Group at its March meeting. Konrad’s presentation focussed on supplier collusion within Local Government tendering, tips on identifying collusion and what options are available. He said experience had shown that collusion in the market place can take many forms, ie bid rigging, price fixing and market sharing. Konrad also provided examples of anti-collusion clauses for modification and insertion into our own contracts.

Listed are previous successful ACCC court cases in Queensland listed below:

1995 concrete price-fix case www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/86962/fromItemId/479825

1998 foam price fix www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/87184/fromItemId/378006

2000 fire protection industry www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/323026/fromItemId/378010

2005 petrol price-fixing www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/715949/fromItemId/620299

2009 Truck cartel www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/900294/fromItemId/855279

2011 construction companies for controlling tender prices www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1015335/fromItemId/966100

Upon reviewing previous ACCC cases and considering the multitude of arrangements which all member Councils enter into, along with our geographical isolation, and at times the limited choice regarding suppliers/product/services, these are conditions which may breed collusive activity. It is a very possible risk that at some stage in the future Councils will be on the receiving end of this activity.

Also at this meeting, Geoff Burdon of Cairns Regional Council provided an overview of the recent Local Buy Conference and commented that of particular interest was the presentation by Suzi Woodrow-Read on a Conceptual Approach to Change Management. Also of interest were the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the CMC which both raised a number of points regarding their focusses on Local Government and the proactive strategies they hoped to implement in the coming year, and that education and advising would be major priorities. Both the ICAC and the CMC said many Local Government employees were unaware they were not actually following due process in some situations. Geoff concluded that the conference was of great benefit and encouraged all to attend next year.

Regional Road Group

Thanks to the Road Regional Group (RRG) for allowing me the time to make a Procurement Presentation at the group’s March meeting. It is hoped through the RRG Technical Committee that the FNQROC Procurement Group can be involved in similar projects as has occurred with the Water and Waste Technical Committee.

Tenders

Agendas

Procurement Meeting 16 March 2012 99.16 Kb

(Minutes are available on request by contacting the Procurement Coordinator).