The Western Australian (WA) Government has launched a review of the state’s Procurement Act to look for ways to support local businesses and jobs, Premier Roger Cook and Finance Minister David Michael said on 9 September.
“[Public] contracts are not just dollar figures. They are opportunities to back businesses that employ Western Australians and invest in our communities,” Premier Roger Cook said on 10 September. “Government purchasing is one of the most powerful tools we have to support local jobs and grow local industry,” Cook added.
“The [review] will cover all areas of State Government procurement, however specific-sector feedback is more than welcome,” a Government spokesperson told Lithos on 10 September. WA’s Department of Treasury and Finance has opened a weeks-long, two-part consultation process as part of the review.
The Government spent A$16.2 billion on procurement in the 2024-25 fiscal year, up 36% from 2023-24, according to tender monitor Awarded Tenders. It prioritises regional suppliers by discounting their offers when judging competing tenders, under its WA Buy Local scheme.
The Government has used its procurement power to support battery developers in recent years. In 2025, it agreed to spend A$150 million on a 50 MW Vanadium battery system in Kalgoorlie.
The Government will select a developer for the battery project in late 2026, it said on 22 July. The project will help to catalyse WA’s vanadium industry, support the adoption of long-duration energy storage systems, and reinforce power system security in the Eastern Goldfields, it added.
Eastern Goldfields, a vast and sparse region, often experiences grid capacity constraints because it depends on a single transmission line. Lynas Rare Earths experiences about one power failure per month at its Kalgoorlie processing plant – in the region – because of grid constraints.
Lynas sustained approximately one month’s worth of rare earth production losses in October-December 2025 because of power cuts at Kalgoorlie, the company estimated in November 2025. It produced 1,404 tonnes of neodymium-praseodymium oxide over the quarter, down 30% from July-September 2025, the company later added in a quarterly report.