Victorian State Government procurement process – Regional Victorian Businesses

Constituency Question –  My constituency question is to the Minister for Government Services. Minister, what is the government doing to support regional Victorian businesses to manufacture and grow jobs locally through the government’s procurement system? It is good to see that the government has created this new portfolio. As the independent member for Shepparton, a number of regional businesses have made representations to me about their inability to get government preferred supplier list access. One example is SPC. They supply fruit and vegetables to a number of Victorian public hospitals, and while they have had some success in this, they still have to struggle to get entry in a number of ways. Ensuring regional suppliers and businesses have preferred supplier status for government goods and services is one way to support regional businesses who have been hit hard this year by the coronavirus.