The importance of ‘buying local’ and boosting your credibility during times of crisis

As a series of storms, floods and fires recently swept across the country, Master Electricians Australia (MEA) has called on insurance companies to buy local when they are sourcing contractors for repair work.

We received a number of reports of outside contractors being flown into towns for reconstruction work, at the expense of local businesses.

We believe this is just not good enough and have urged insurance companies to get behind local tradies first before handing work over to electricians from outside the effected regions.

Rebuilding a devastated community takes more than just putting everything back together. As important as it is to just get into the clean-up, it’s equally important to support the local economy by giving the businesses there on the ground a leg up.

While there’s nothing illegal about bringing in contractors from out of town, there are local businesses crying out for the job. Many of these local crews are disaster victims themselves and they need as much support as possible to ensure they remain viable and can continue to employ locals.

We understand that flood, storm and fire season can be an extremely busy time for insurers, but bringing in outside contractors, when there are plenty of locals ready and willing to do the work, is not the answer. It won’t help these Australian communities to get back on their feet.

The recent series of floods was also a reminder to homeowners to always be aware of unlicensed electrical workers hoping to cash in on the misfortune of homeowners. We have issued a warning to flood and storm victims to be wary of travelling conmen exploiting unsuspecting residents.