Georgiou Chairman advocates for Australian contractors

According to Georgi ou Chairman John Georgiou, of the nearly $50 billion in contracts awarded in Australia over the past year, only three per cent were won by Australian-owned companies.

Since stepping into the Australian Owned Contractors (AOC) Board Chairman role in August 2018, Mr. Georgiou has been advocating for the collection of mid-tier construction companies — demanding more opportunities to build major infrastructure projects in Australia.

“Of the $50 billion worth of infrastructure projects across Australia, multinationals (such as CIMIC Group, John Holland etc) are delivering $38 billion – that’s 80 percent of the work. Therefore local contractors such as Georgiou are unable to build capability and grow to support the Australian economy,” Mr. Georgiou said.

“In having a handful of multinationals delivering this work, there is a concentration risk for government. To make matters worse, these multinationals and now joint venturing with each other which further reduces the competition which isn’t great for Australian companies.”

Mr. Georgiou said he believes Australian owned mid-tier companies, such as other AOC members Bielby, BMD, Daracon, Decmil, Ertech, FKG Group, Maca and SRG Global, have the physical and technical capability to deliver large-scale projects but are being ‘risked out’ of the market.

“The role of AOC is to urge governments across Australia to look at ways to end this current market distortion and support the growth and capability of the local mid-tier construction sector,” Mr. Georgiou said.

“It’s about ensuring companies such as Georgiou have equal opportunity to secure large contracts and continue providing employment opportunities to our people.”

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