Question Time

GOVERNMENT ICT

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): Is the Treasurer concerned that mismanagement of the government's ICT projects will damage his budget's bottom line? The Auditor-General has highlighted that mismanagement of information communication technology projects puts at risk the achievement of priorities of the whole of government strategy, including the realisation of benefits expected from the government shared services initiative. The Auditor-General makes the point in his report that the amount of money at risk in these projects is $600 million. Projects of concern identified by the Auditor-General include the TRUMP System, the ATLAS project, the replacement of Revenue SA's taxation revenue management system, and the electronic facilities management system.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:10): No, I am not concerned that the ICT procurement of government will affect the budget's bottom line. In fact, I think my colleague would confirm that the ICT savings to date have already delivered somewhere in the order of $30 million per year. The Ristech system to which the Leader of the Opposition (the alternate premier, whatever he wants to call himself) refers is a replacement program for Revenue SA's tax collection system. It probably does not excite a lot of people, but it excites me that we are getting a new system. It has been longer in coming forward than was intended.

What I have learned from ICT procurement is that they often take longer than first thought. I do not have the numbers in front of me, but that program will see a significant multimillion-dollar improvement in tax collection simply through better technology. From memory, I think probably $5 million or $8 million a year of revenue has been leaking through the system, because we have not had as good an IT system as we otherwise should. So, it will do quite the opposite: it will deliver a real budget benefit to us. He mentioned other programs. The reality is—and this comes from a government that spent, from memory, $150 million on the Y2K bug; you had your minister for the bug—you splashed $150 million up against the wall fireproofing our state from a bug.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: He doesn't say that.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: My colleague says that he doesn't say that. What I have found with the Leader of the Opposition is that you really have to look at what he says in full context, because he is a champion at pulling quotes out of a report and totally misrepresenting the situation. Late yesterday on radio the alternate premier—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: He loves those words.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: He loves it, doesn't he. Keep repeating it; he likes it. The chest goes out, it rises a few inches; he loves it. Unfortunately, before you become premier the word 'alternate' will have to go. But, as long as you want to be known as the alternate premier, good luck to you. He said on radio how he would manage his budget. This question was put to him by Andrew Male on ABC Radio's CountryWide:

...let's swap places hypothetically for a moment, you're now state Treasurer, you've got all this money coming in, where are you going to put it?

And the alternate premier said:

I think Kevin's problem is at the expenses end of his budget.

You better believe it. Any treasurer that does not have a problem with expenditure is not doing a very good job.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Absolutely, and they manage. How come you couldn't balance a budget?

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I can balance a budget; he couldn't balance a budget. The leader stated:

He's gotta stop giving in to requests for spending and claiming that...it's unavoidable, it's never unavoidable...

There is not a day that goes by when this bloke is not telling me to spend money. There is not a question time when the leader is not telling this government to spend money. How ridiculous a statement is that? But, it goes on and gets better. He states, 'This is what I would do', and says:

He's got to get his expenses under control. Build up bigger surpluses.

And this is how he would pay for his infrastructure. He states:

He's gotta build that surplus up, that's how we'll build the roads. That's how we'll build the health and education infrastructure that we need.

Well, Mr Speaker, we have $1 billion a year capital expenditure. Are you suggesting that you would have another $1 billion surplus? The Leader of the Opposition has to explain what services he would cut and what taxes would go up. He just cannot say, 'GST'.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: I rise on a point of order. The Deputy Premier is clearly debating the issue. He must answer the question.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I have been clean bowled by the member for Kavel.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Not as much as Vickie was!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I think he did pretty well. He knocked over two deputy leaders in one hit. Well done, Mark! I rest my case. I think that I have more than adequately answered the question.