Minister applauds BESIX Watpac Indigenous commitment

Minister Farmer praised the company’s record of reaching ambitious Indigenous participation targets on major projects even where there is no contractual obligation to do so.

The Minister received a comprehensive briefing on Indigenous engagement and workforce training strategies and was pleased to hear the company’s positive feedback on the role of Construction Skills Queensland on major projects.

The Minister was also brought up to speed on the large portfolio of major projects recently delivered by BESIX Watpac and the company’s focus on bringing value engineering to complex projects such as Jubilee Place.

Accompanying Minister Farmer on the visit were BESIX Watpac’s General Manager Queensland, Northern Territory and New Zealand Drew Brockhurst, Jubilee Place Senior Project Manager Andrew Negri, National Indigenous Affairs Manager James Alley, Workforce Training and Development Manager Tim Lyne and representatives of the Indigenous subcontractor employees working on the project.

Drew Brockhurst thanked the Minister for taking time out of her busy schedule for the site visit.

“It was terrific to have the opportunity to brief the Minister in the project environment and explain our approach to Indigenous training and employment and give her an understanding of our projects and sector expertise,” Drew said.

The visit coincided with a significant step in the delivery of Jubilee Place - the installation of the façade which has commenced on the lower levels of the unique steel diagrid exoskeleton building.