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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-16 Daily Xml
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ICT PROCUREMENT

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:59): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the government commission either an independent review, or a special audit into problems with the ICT procurement program, as recommended by the Auditor-General, to determine whether the program has been competently implemented by the minister?

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens will come to order.

Mr WILLIAMS: The Auditor-General—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Attorney will come to order.

Mr Williams: The Auditor-General raises concerns in his report about whether the minister is being properly briefed on major ICT developments and raises concerns about major project delays, inadequate risks and project management, inadequate recording, monitoring of project costs and benefits, and a lack of proper advice and of periodic status reports to the minister and cabinet.

Mr Hamilton-Smith: The 30 million is a mirage.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (15:00): The $30 million is not a mirage because the Treasury, in quite a blunt fashion, took the money off every agency. We took it from the agencies. We booked the saving upfront.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition will come to order! The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: We will look closely as we always do at recommendations and advice of the Auditor-General. We actually respect the office of Auditor-General and the person in the office of Auditor-General, unlike members opposite who—and the member for Davenport was one I think from memory, who challenged the Auditor-General's authority.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: And Mitch refused to cooperate with his inquiry.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And Mitch would not cooperate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I remember Rob Lucas in another place severely criticising—quite personal criticism from memory—the former Auditor-General, Ken McPherson. He attacked him quite viciously.

Mr WILLIAMS: I rise on a point of order. I am confused about the relevance of this commentary and debate on the question that I asked the Treasurer.

The SPEAKER: I think the Treasurer is now somewhat straying from the substance of the question. The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The opposition, when in government, made an art form of constant attacks on the Auditor-General. I have actually been rather delighted this week. I have got lots and lots of questions. I wonder if that has anything to do with Liberal Party polling that apparently shows that the Labor government is much higher—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer must answer the substance of the question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —is highly regarded in the broader community in terms of our ability to manage the finances and the economy.

Mr Hamilton-Smith: Says you two, the most poorly regarded politicians in the state.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Your chief of staff has got to be careful what he's telling people—that's what I've heard. But, anyway, I wear it as a badge of honour. The reality is, as I said earlier, we will take on board all comments and recommendations and consider them as we always do when the Auditor-General reports.

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