Of all the things a State Government can do to create jobs, maximising the involvement of local workers and businesses in government projects should be the easiest.
Over the last eight years, the State Government has spent $53 billion on infrastructure projects, but it is difficult to find data that tells us how many jobs these projects have created for local workers, or how much work they have delivered to local businesses.
There are many examples of government projects being largely fabricated offshore, before being shipped here for assembly. For example, we’ll soon be going to watch football in a stadium largely fabricated offshore, walking across a foreign fabricated bridge to get there. This is hardly the way to maximise jobs or create training opportunities for our young people. It is also hardly the way to guarantee quality of workmanship and safety standards on important public infrastructure.
Over the next four years, we are likely to see new rail, road, hospital and school projects around Western Australia, paid for with taxpayer dollars. This represents a huge opportunity to provide jobs and training opportunities.
Read more about our plans here:
WA Jobs from WA Resources