Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Northern Economic Plan Northern Economic Plan The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN Legislative Council Northern Economic Plan The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (14:42): I have a supplementary question. Can the minister advise how his department will measure the success of that function, other than by the numbers attending? The Hon. K.J. MAHER Legislative Council Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy Northern Economic Plan The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:42): The success will be measured by the involvement of local companies in local projects. It is not just state government procurement: the three local councils are represented and it is right across government departments. It is about giving small businesses and businesses in north the best possible opportunity to make connections and to bid into projects. I might say too that, in furthering that aim, it is not just giving connections to allow small businesses to make connections with various levels of government, it is about making sure that there is an even better chance of small businesses in South Australia getting work. For example, to increase the likelihood of small businesses gaining work, we have changed our industry participation policy to ensure that all state government procurements above $220,000 in northern Adelaide will have the minimum 20 per cent industry participation policy weighting when tenders are evaluated for the state government. This will increase the amount of participation from local businesses, and we are sure that not just the Meet the Buyer events but these changes in procurement policy will see our local businesses gaining more work and employing more people.