Keep an eye on SA Tourism tender chances

With the South Australian elections over, one of the keen points of interest for Australia's construction industry will be how SA joins other State Governments in maintaining and hopefully lifting the level of investment in State infrastructure.
In the post-Olympic construction lull, and with inner city residential activity levelling off, 2002 should be a good year for State Governments to get value for money in providing a wide variety of needed and useful facilities.

In the SA tenders area, interested parties should be finding it easier to get comprehensive information, following an announcement back on May 15, 2001. The then Premier unveiled a policy development:
“A New Dimension in Contracting with the South Australian Government”.
Under this all major Government contracts, including industry incentives, asset sales and consultancies, would be earmarked for public release. On the reasonable assumption the incoming Administration will maintain this commitment to clear and open government, South Australia should be just that bit more attractive for those interested in tenders and government contracts.

Work on the Alice Springs to Darwin railway link will be providing a lot of construction employment for some time, in SA and the NT.

Elsewhere in South Australia, tourism has so far been the best harbinger of possible future tenders.

In December, 2001 the outgoing Government foreshadowed work on a number of tourist facilities to cater for an influx of visitors for South Australia's 2002 Year of the Outback. Work would be needed on upgrading airstrips at William Creek and Rawnsley Park, and for upgrades to the Angorichina Tourist Village, the Prairie Hotel and Hawker Outback Motel.

There is also funding for the Birdsville, Oodnadatta and Strzelecki tracks, and the Marree airstrip.

Altogether, South Australia would benefit from over $6.7 million in new Outback infrastructure over the next few years. The Year of the Outback is expected to attract an additional 40,000 Australian and international visitors.

Half of the 2,500 bed nights available for a planned feature cattle drive were allocated for sale in the US, UK, Europe and New Zealand, with sales starting in November, 2001.

Complementing the Year of the Outback in South Australia is the International Year of Ecotourism, sponsored by the United Nations. The South Australian Tourism Commission has produced an extensive media kit to promote such experiences as swimming with sealions, diving with cuttlefish, visiting a seahorse farm and birdwatching in the Coorong National Park, along the coastline running east from the mouth of the Murray River.

Visitors spend over $225 million on nature experiences annually, supporting about 1,800 full-time equivalent jobs with 200 tourism operators engaged in eco-tourism. "South Australia's ecotourism program focuses on an intensive series of projects and programs including developing strategies for the State's emerging heritage/ecotourism regions," said SA Tourism Commission CEO Bill Spurr.
Developing the ecotourism strategy during 2002 could produce a flow of regionally-diverse projects like the Goolwa upgrading to keep the tender lists moving.

The historic Goolwa Wharf precinct, at the mouth of the Murray River, has been earmarked for redevelopment, to help maintain the tourist appeal of the Fleurieu peninsula, to the south of Adelaide.

The old wool and wheat paddle steamers which once plied the Murray River, pre-railways, started up river from Goolwa. Now it is a focal point for tourist vessels.

The project, with $1.2 million from the South Australian Tourism Commission's Major Infrastructure Fund plus another $1.5 million from the local Alexandrina Council, would be implemented over a nine month construction period.

The rejuvenation effort includes extending the wharf and jetty, new and resurfaced road, car parking, pipes and drains, landscaping including street furniture, lighting, signage and public art and four new sites for commercial tourism enterprises.
An example of possibilities outside the tourism area is the Lincoln Marine Science Centre at Port Lincoln, on the western side of Spencer Gulf. It will have a capital development grant of $1 million in 2004 for a new teaching wing, on top of a previous $1 million for 2003.

A check with SA Tenders & Contracts suggests there should be room for some well-chosen contracts in the post-election era. A list of tenders closing in February and early March 2002 had a restricted selection of reasonably-sized projects, almost all in water treatment.

There were civil works for the Port Pirie Waste Water treatment plant, four separate tenders for SA's Heathfield water treatment plant upgrade (aeration pipework, sludge thickening and dewatering systems, ultra violet disinfection) and pipelaying for rehabilitation in the Loxton irrigation district, plus stages two and three of the important Port River Expressway road and rail bridge works.

All of these are valuable, but it would be good to see them supplemented by a steady succession of additional, substantial tenders during the rest of 2002. It's time for a renewed drive to enhance public assets.