News from Downunder

G'Day! It's engineering harvest time in Australia, and this year it's a bumper crop.

Our financial year runs from the 1st July to the 30th June, and Government Departments throughout this sunburnt country are anxiously spending money, lest they end the year with a spending shortfall.

To you or I, holding a bit of money back might make good financial sense, but in some Government circles this is tantamount to financial suicide. As it has been explained to me, if a Department does not spend all of its allocation in the respective financial year, the money can not be carried over, and the Department may find subsequent budgets cut on the grounds that they had previously overestimated expenditure.

I should pause at this point to explain that in Australia we have a lot of government. Each State (and the two major Territories) have their own government. Then on top of these there is the Federal government. The Federal Government looks after the big picture, so of course it needs big Departments that spend big dollars. The States and Territories would argue that they have to look after the big ‘local' picture, so of course they also need big Departments that spend big dollars (‘local' is of course subjective, some of the States are many times larger than the entire British Isles).

Either way, be they Federal or State, Government Departments have until June 30th to spend this year's budget. Unfortunately, Government Departments have a habit of leaving things to the last minute, and this year has been no exception. Every few days I received e-mail notification of Government tenders for consultancy work. Until recently each e-mail listed three or four jobs. Now some e-mails list 10 or more jobs, and they are appearing with startling frequency.

The flood of tenders coincides with an acute shortfall of competent engineers. This has caused problems for some Government Departments who are anxious to spend their money but are having difficulty finding companies that will take it. Actually it's not the taking of money that is the issue, but the requirement that the work be done before the money can be handed over (a novel concept I know), which translates to all works being completed before the last day of June.

So, those companies that can do the work in a timely fashion are commanding decent fees, companies that normally would be overlooked on quality grounds, are now finding favour (provided the work is seen to be done by the end of the financial year), and all the other companies, well, they are already too busy making hay.

Of course, come July 1st, sanity should return to our industry, and all eyes will be on next year's crop.