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MANUFACTURING lobby group SEMMA (South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance) has welcomed the Federal Government’s pledge to encourage more local procurement which it believes will provide a boost for Australian small and medium enterprises.
Speaking on behalf of SEMMA, vice president James Sturgess (also principal of Dandenong-based law firm Macpherson + Kelley) said SEMMA had lobbied long and hard for more government opportunities for SME manufacturers.
He added that although there had been local industry participation policies at various levels of government, these had been paid little more than lip service in the past.
Mr Sturgess believed that the spectre of job losses in the current economic climate was prompting government to be more pro-active about implementing existing policies designed to encourage more local industry participation.
SEMMA members generate about 44 per cent of Victoria’s total manufactured output, and Mr Sturgess said SEMMA would be willing to act as a form of contract clearing house, receiving contract information from all levels of government, and then distributing that information to ensure manufacturers were aware of all opportunities to sell to government.
“Whenever they put out a tender they need to send it to SEMMA, to make sure we know about it,” he said.
“If it’s for something you can pick up or hold, then our members can make it.”
The first step in ensuring that local SMEs got more of a fair go was ensuring they knew about opportunities, according to Mr Sturgess.