Page 10 - Tropic Magazine Issue 25

EDITOR’S LOCAL BUY… REALLY?
There’s been a lot of hoo-ha lately about buying local. Support local small
LETTER business! Keep it in Cairns! Our future depends on it… etc etc!
Yes, it’s important. Very. We’ve known that for eons. The coronavirus
shutdown has just amplified it, big time. As global supply chains were
disrupted and large corporations were able to ride out the downturn
crushing small businesses all over the place, the Buy Local mantra was
suddenly front and centre, loud and clear.
A lot of people and just about every organisation talk the big talk about
buying local. But not all of them walk the walk.
First, the positives. On this front, Cairns Regional Council deserves credit.
Of all the levels of government and all the various organisations, the council
gets top marks for buying local. About 90% of their capital works budget over
the next 12 months will go to local contractors and suppliers. And whatever
the project may be across its vast portfolio of responsibilities, tender
opportunities are always offered to locally owned companies to apply for.
Buying local seems front of mind at council, and that’s an awesome thing.
In the private sector, there are lots of awards I could hand out to businesses
operating with a focused buy local philosophy. Cairns Bank takes its role
Big organisations need to do better at as the only locally owned financial institution very seriously in the local
“keeping it in Cairns”.
community, and I commend the team for their ongoing commitment
to using local contractors and supporting local businesses whenever it’s
practical to do so.
Kudos to both (and many more I don’t have column space to mention).
On the other side of the ledger, the negatives. So many organisations, quasi-
government entities and departments and lobby groups aren’t as awesome at
walking the walk of buying local. Even worse, some of them don’t even offer
local businesses the opportunity to tender for projects. Across an array of
services and sectors, too often I get calls from local business owners who are
frustrated and angry at the lack of opportunities to even participate in tender
processes, let alone win the work based on their merits and track record. I’m
looking at Ports North, Cairns Hospital, Advance Cairns, Cairns Chamber
Tropic celebrates four years with this edition of Commerce, TTNQ and State and Federal Governments. I’ve got examples
involving failures by all of the above when it comes to buying locally. Their
sometimes blasé attitude towards buying local is made worse when many
of those organisations talk the talk of local buy – some even have local
procurement policies in place or run marketing campaigns spruiking the
concept – but in reality too often they practise the opposite. Every time one
of those organisations uses capital city contractors and consultants without
giving local businesses the opportunity to quote or participate in the tender,
it’s a tangible kick in the face to the local economy. And no-one is holding
them to account on it.
If we’re all serious about creating a more self-sustainable, self-reliant
economy, everyone’s first thought needs to be: “buy local”. Those
organisations listed above, every government department, every one of us

10 • Tropic • Issue 25