Page 44 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2022

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DEFENCE BUSINESS NTIBN
NOVEMBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
“We support, and we absolutely encourage majority ownership, but we also need to see that majority control,” Anstess said.
“What’s important to recognise as a nuance is that the 49 per cent is bringing the capital, and everybody knows that cash is king. Even if I’m coming to this partnership and I own 51 per cent, where is the power? Power is where self- determination is, power is where decision making is.”
What the NTIBN wants to see is the 49 per cent investor or partner honouring the intent of these
procurement targets which is to genuinely
support the growth of Indigenous businesses
– that means looking out how they can build capability and skills transfer, so they can eventually walk away.
LEFT: The team from Indigenous owned enterprise AJK on site at the USFPI Northern Territory Training Areas and Ranges (NTTAR) Upgrades Project.
These include the NTIBN in the Northern Territory, as well as the Kinaway Chamber of Commerce in Victoria, and the Noongar Chamber, Goldfields Chamber and Pilbara Chamber in Western Australia.
“Defence could get really brave and say we’re no longer going to do Supply Nation-registered; we’re only going to do certified and above. We know the Commonwealth has the capacity to do this now, and that the primes have the capacity to do this now. The issue is the willingness to
be brave enough to do it – not just to find the easy door.
“Everyone says ‘if all I have to do is [be registered] then that’s what I will do’ – and while that ticks a box, you’re also ticking the kind of box that supports the mainstream industry to meet its minimum mandatory requirements, whereas our job is to ensure the integrity of the Indigenous industry sector, and to provide the best possible opportunities for our businesses to grow.”
“What’s happening at the moment, in my
view, is that a lot of the 51-49s have seen what
a cash cow it can be to ‘black-door’ contract,
and they just subcontract the work back
to their 49. And that’s great, except when
they have no intent of building any skills or opportunity or ability in their actual Aboriginal business.
The NTIBN also wants to encourage thinking around acknowledgement of traditional ownership and place-based opportunities when it comes to
Indigenous contracting.
“Here we are in Darwin on Larrakia country with a significant
amount of Defence spend, but how much of that Defence spend is geared towards Larrakia Aboriginal businesses as a preference? So, how do we think about preferencing or understanding local through defence contracting?
“For Aboriginal people, place-based respect and acknowl- edgment is really important – we acknowledge Country everywhere we go. But how do we engage with integrity through our procurement processes and practices. Particu- larly through our Primes, with their own internal policies around recognising Aboriginal place.
“If they’ve got a process that says: if we’re in Darwin and we get a Larrakia entity contract, do we consider them a preference because they’re place-based? I think that those things are important, and I would encourage the primes to dare to give the place-based sovereignty approach a try.” ■
“THE NTIBN ALSO HOPES THAT MORE PROGRESS CAN BE MADE TOWARDS EMBRACING LOCAL DECISION-MAKING AND LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES”
“I think they need to say ‘what is plan going to be?’ so that this business can walk away and self-perform on its own, or tender on its own, without having to pay all of this back-of- house back to the 49 per cent shareholder.
“There’s still profit in that for the 49 per cent shareholder but at what point do they no longer get to be in select-tender opportunities for Aboriginal contracting? Because what’s happening at the moment is the same-old contractors across defence are the only ones getting an opportunity in, and it’s actually closing out new Aboriginal businesses.”
PLACE-BASED SOVEREIGNTY
The NTIBN also hopes that more progress can be made towards embracing local decision-making and local opportunities.
For example, the NTIBN calls for a shift in recognising that Supply Nation is not the only certifying body, but that primes can go to any of the relevant state-based entities to engage Indigenous suppliers.
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