MOUNT Gambier businesses currently contracted to undertake essential maintenance work on State Government-owned assets have raised concerns about quality and continuation of work when the facilities management services is privatised.
Last month, the State Government informed workers it plans to fully outsource the management of maintenance at government facilities as of next year.
A government spokesperson said work on a new model was under way and strict industry guidelines will be imposed to ensure small to medium size businesses “have every opportunity to benefit”.
The spokesperson said the new model would require South Australians to undertake the majority of the work.
But tradespeople remain worried about the implications an outsourced services will have on both businesses and the users of the facilities, which include the region’s schools and other government-owed assets.
WFC Contracting owner Anthony Holmes, whose earthmoving business has worked for the Infrastructure and Transport Department for more than 30 years, feared a loss of local knowledge in the planning and development of projects.
“We look after all government assets in the upper and lower South East and do a number of jobs from pavement replacements, demolition of older buildings, small repairs and maintenance to pot holes or caves opening up in a car park,” he said.
“There is a lot of site knowledge that comes with working with a client for so long – we know exactly where the storm-water runs, where the soil runs, where something has been upgrade.
“It saves time, inconvenience and money knowing this because you are not having to send someone down to investigate it.”
Former Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll said the decision to privatise the department’s facility services intended to spend taxpayers funds “honestly, transparently and with a great degree of probity”.
He was unable to guarantee whether contractors will keep the work they have had, while a departmental spokesperson said the impact the privatisation would have on employees at its Mount Gambier office was unknown.
Mr Holmes labelled Mr Knoll’s cost saving claim as “unsubstantiated”, adding facilities services staff were crucial in the management of sites.
“The facilities manager has been looking after these sites for 30 years and is a wealth of knowledge,” he said.
“They will discuss jobs with us coming up, tap into our local knowledge and spec the job from that.
“We can and have actually saved the department money.
“When you have a private enterprise coming in to manage the facilities, they have to make money.
“At the end of the day, all of the assets need to be maintained and it has to be maintained at a high service.
“The only way you can save money is if it gets down at a lesser standard or corners are cut.”
Stuckey Electrical managing director Ryan Creek raised concerns about the consistency and quality of service in the future.
“Preventative maintenance is all about the quality of preventative maintenance – it is not about ticking and flicking and receiving an invoice, it is about providing the correct feedback and giving them the information they need to keep it at a higher level,” he said.
“We can provide a service that is not only local, but is personalised.
“By having knowledge of the site, employees at the schools and government buildings have confidence the same person is rocking up, fixing the problem and giving the consistent service.”
Mr Creek, who also serves as chair of Glenburnie Primary School’s governing council, said the privatisation would have a significant impact on the users of the sites.
“We have to provide a service within a certain time frame and some can be within an hour, five days or one month, he said.
“If there is a problem we are notified and we one person who is basically designated to do the work.
“If the service is going to be run in Adelaide you lose that and principals and government workers will have to deal with a faceless person and potentially have to wait for repairs.
“That impacts on everyone who uses the sites.”
Despite assurances from the State Government businesses will have an opportunity to benefit from the privatisation, South Australian Labor leader Peter Malinauskas warned a multi-national company will “almost surely” be selected to run facilities services.
Mr Malinauskas met with Limestone Coast contractors during his recent visit to the region and said respondents were worried about the broader implications of the privatisation.
“They are worried about what this is going to mean for the local economy… we are talking about a large volume of work – maintaining important government infrastructure – that is performed by our local trades on the ground,” he said.
“One guy told me he had just bought two new utes from a local car dealer.
“If all of us goes to a big multi-national corporate, all that money will potentially leave the local economy and go towards some central head office which would be incredibly unfortunate.
“The impact will be felt on dozens and dozens of people in a really material way.”
