The Meeting With Procurement That Changed Everything

Fourteen years ago, I walked into a meeting thinking I had all the answers - and walked out realising I had none. I was enthusiastic, confident, and completely late. That meeting taught me the most important lesson I’ve learned in this work: 

Local content doesn’t fail because procurement ignores it. It fails because it arrives too late for procurement to make the best of it. 

I went in with regional suppliers in mind and a belief that capability existed. The project team didn’t disagree - but they were already deep into delivery. Engineering decisions were made. Packages were structured. Commercial strategy was locked in. Risk had moved from idea to contract. 

What I thought was the beginning of the opportunity was actually the end of it. 

That moment changed how I think to this day. 

Procurement Isn’t the Problem - Timing Is 

Procurement is often blamed for weak local content outcomes. I understand why. It’s where tenders are won or lost, where decisions become visible, and where communities judge whether opportunity is real. 

Procurement delivers local content, but it’s not where local content is decided.  

Procurement teams need to make commercially defensible choices. They can’t buy against criteria that don’t exist, or select suppliers based on ambition rather than contract. Expecting procurement to fix what wasn’t embedded upstream isn’t courage - it’s poor governance. 

Local content should actively clear a path for procurement. 

If a project wants local content to matter, it has to matter before procurement. 

Local Content Must Be Embedded Early 

Local content becomes real only when it is built into the system early - in the places that shape the market: 

• Approvals 

• Design 

• Engineering 

• Package strategy 

• Tender evaluation 

• Contract drafting 

• Reporting requirements 

• Commercial risk settings 

If it isn’t embedded early, it won’t survive late. 

Engineering Shapes the Market More Than People Realise 

Engineering teams determine what the market can even compete for. They influence: 

• Whether Australian standards are considered 

• Whether local options are designed in or out 

• Whether packages can be unbundled 

• Whether early market intelligence is collected

There is a real opportunity for engineering companies to make this a point of difference. Most don’t - yet. 

Owners Set the Tone 

Owners decide whether local content is treated as a genuine delivery issue or a public relations promise. They create the environment contractors operate within. 

Owners should: 

• Set expectations early 

• Approve strategy 

• Test the market 

• Establish contract settings 

• Cascade obligations to contractors 

• Make local content assessable and measurable 

Contractors deliver within the system they are given. Owners enable the system. 

Once the Contract Is Signed, There Is No Room for Anything Else 

This is the simplest and most important truth: 

Once the contract is signed, there is no room for anything else. 

If the local content promise isn’t translated into: 

• Contract conditions 

• Tender criteria 

• Targets 

• Evidence requirements 

• Reporting systems 

• Workable commercial settings 

…then the promise becomes a hope. And hope is not a procurement strategy. 

What It Looks Like When It Works 

On one project, a contractor sent us a list of potential suppliers before procurement began. We had market data, we knew the region, and we responded within forty‑eight hours. The contractor accepted some recommendations and declined others - but they made informed decisions, at the right time. 

That avoided wasted effort, reduced cost, and gave the contractor confidence to structure the package properly. 

That isn’t soft engagement. That’s good project work. 

What It Looks Like When It Doesn’t 

I’ve also seen the opposite: public commitments to trust and transparency evaporating as soon as suppliers see work going out of region, unclear pathways, no feedback, and payment terms that make small businesses wince. 

When local content isn’t embedded early, disappointment is guaranteed. 

If It Matters, Put It in the Contract 

I keep coming back to the same point: 

• If it matters, put it in the contract. 

• If it matters, collect the data early. 

• If it matters, involve engineering before the scope is frozen. 

• If it matters, make it assessable in tender. 

• If it matters, report it properly. 

• If it matters, don’t delegate it to the least equipped part of the supply chain. 

Optimism without timing, evidence and contract alignment is not strategy. It’s just enthusiasm arriving late and wasting everyone’s time. 

Not a mistake you make twice.