THE HON ED HUSIC MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

MEMBER FOR CHIFLEY

SENATOR JENNY MCALLISTER

CHAIR, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFERENCES COMMITTEE

SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

TURNBULL’S TECH WRECKS NEED SENATE OVERSIGHT

Today Labor is calling on the Senate to set up an inquiry into the Turnbull Government’s beleaguered digital transformation efforts.

During its time in government, the Coalition has doubled its digital spend to $10 billion but witnessed digital project after digital project run into trouble.

Labor believes the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee should examine why so many projects have failed, been cancelled or crashed and what can be done to put the vital work of digital transformation at the centre of government.

The digital wreckage that has built up under the Turnbull Government’s watch has been staggering, and includes:

-       ATO website’s repeated crashes over eight months;

-       Centrelink robo-debt debacle;

-       Census failure;

-       NAPLAN online failure;

-       Child Support upgrades running late and over budget;

-       Sale of Medicare information on the internet;

-       myGov running almost 200 per cent over budget; and,

-       Abandoning the GOV.AU program to simplify access to government websites and information.

Worse still, at a time where the Turnbull Government increasingly pressures the Senate to support harsh budget cuts, it is remarkable the government has ploughed billions more into its digital spend without explanation.

Despite all the digital failures the Turnbull Government has remained silent as services crash and projects go off the rails. The Australian public deserves to know what went wrong and how it can be fixed.

In April, Labor asked the Turnbull Government to initiate an arm’s length, independent inquiry into digital transformation, but that call has gone unanswered.

In March a poll commissioned by the Australian Information Industry Association found only 16 per cent of Australians thought the Commonwealth government was doing a good job of providing digital services.

As governments across the globe embrace the use of digital platforms to deliver efficient online services, Australia can’t afford to be left behind. But public trust is lagging because the Turnbull Government can’t get its act together.

Without proper oversight the Turnbull Government will just continue to preside over more failures and the Australian public’s trust in digital transformation will slide further.

MONDAY 14 AUGUST 2017

MEDIA CONTACT: ELISHA PEARCE 0404 051 163 (HUSIC)

                                    REUBEN RAY 0402 821 188 (MCALLISTER)