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

SENATE AGREES TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INQUIRY

Labor welcomes the Senate’s support for an inquiry by the Finance and Public Administration Committee into the government’s digital transformation program.

The government’s spending on digital transformation and ICT has doubled since it came to office. 

At a time when education and health funding are being cut savagely it is critical to make sure the $10 billion spent on digital transformation is value for money.

The inquiry will be at its most productive if the government adopts an open and transparent attitude. Labor agrees with the views expressed by the CPSU that this inquiry should not be used to scapegoat public servants and we welcome the DTA CEO Gavin Slater’s public statements indicating he will cooperate with the inquiry.

The Opposition has been concerned at the number of digital projects that have gone off the rails, they include:

- 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.

Labor looks forward to finding out why so many Turnbull Government digital projects have failed and what can be done to stop it happening again.

THURSDAY, 17 AUGUST 2017

MEDIA CONTACT: ELISHA PEARCE 0404 051 163 (HUSIC)

REUBEN RAY 0402 821 188 (MCALLISTER)