With two recent lobbying wins under its belt, Master Builders is turning its focus on advocacy efforts in 2022.

Following on from the Queensland Government’s announcement to extend deadlines for the Project Trust Account (PTA) regime, and a win in the procurement and tendering arena, our attention is now on the issues we’ll be lobbying for in 2022 and beyond.

PTAs and procurement wins

In response to our extensive lobbying and advocacy campaign urging the government to extend the deadlines, the government recently announced they are extending the deadlines and giving the building industry more time to prepare for the remaining phases of PTA frameworks. Starting dates are now 1 April 2023 for private sector contracts over $3 million and 1 October 2023 for private sector contracts over $1 million, which gives some much-needed breathing space for industry to get their head around the requirements and be prepared.

Our second win was in relation to Queensland Government procurement practices. In our discussions with the Department of Energy and Public Works we raised concerns about unfair tendering practices, including tender validity periods and other actions being taken by some government agencies that were at odds with the government’s standard conditions of tender for building projects. These discussions resulted in a directive from the department’s Director-General recommending agencies avoid tender validity periods and instead adopt strategies that support industry to tender and deliver projects effectively for the Queensland Government, with regard for the current market conditions.

Both decisions are significant wins for the industry and an acknowledgement from government of the instability created by COVID-19, particularly the constraints in supply chains, that are affecting both labour and materials.

Advocacy Focus 2022

The focus of our advocacy and lobbying efforts in 2022 will be firmly centred on ensuring the industry is well-placed to weather what is going to be another turbulent year. We’ll also be calling on the Queensland Government to make changes that will see the industry positioned to continue Queensland’s economic recovery and make it a better place to work.

In our recently released Advocacy Focus 2022, we’re therefore calling for several initiatives aimed at creating certainty for the industry, financial stability, building quality, physical and mental health and effective enforcement.

With our industry facing such uncertain times, we’ll be looking to explore better tools to support the mental health of workers – building on existing initiatives such as Mates in Construction.

Read more at mbqld.com.au/advocacy