Local businesses excited about Inland Rail

Excitement for Inland Rail is building in Queensland with hundreds of local businesses getting ready to bid for contracts in anticipation of the start of construction.

Queensland will be the largest beneficiary of Inland Rail with 11,800 jobs created from construction and a $7.8 billion boost in Queensland Gross State Product.

More than 550 contracts have already been awarded to Queensland businesses to help plan for and build Inland Rail.

Inland Rail’s most technically complex projects, comprising the 128-kilometre Gowrie to Kagaru (G2K) section, will be delivered via a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and is slated to go into construction in 2023.

Involving locals from the start
Inland Rail is committed to ensuring local businesses are equipped to get involved during construction and reap the jobs and economic benefits already being achieved interstate.

“We have made it very clear to the shortlisted consortia that local business participation is essential – it is part of the social performance criteria that we have set for ourselves,” said Tony Lubofsky, Director of the ARTC Inland Rail PPP.

Inland Rail’s ‘Meet the PPP proponents’ session on Tuesday 9 March in Gatton was over-subscribed with local businesses from Gatton, Toowoomba, Brisbane and the Gold Coast keen to learn how they can get involved with Inland Rail.

Representatives of the shortlisted consortia bidding to build the G2K section – Capstone, G2Konnect and Regionerate Rail – outlined their approach to creating local and Indigenous supply chain opportunities on the project.

One-on-one networking opportunities with the three consortia were also available, along with introductions to supplier advocates including ICN Gateway, Construction Skills Queensland and the Department of State Development, Local Government Infrastructure and Planning.

Local business representatives were encouraged to see such strong interest in attracting local business suppliers to deliver Inland Rail.

“It is good to see how much involvement and how engaged these consortia are in supporting indigenous businesses and employment in the community and the region for this project,” said Paul Olsen, Director of Toowoomba-based Brolga Cranes.

Register and be noticed
Now is the time for local business to promote their supply services to the Gowrie to Kagaru project by registering with ICN Gateway.

Simon Warner, Lockyer Valley Community Consultative Committee Chair, encouraged small local businesses to get their “house in order” and put an effort into preparing their business capability statements.

“I really think this is a wonderful opportunity,” Mr Warner said.

“It’s a once in a lifetime thing to happen in an area like this. I encourage everyone to get involved in one way or another rather than sitting back and hoping that it will turn out okay.”