“The project has fallen behind the original schedule. It is now expected to take three times as long, require just over one-third more funding and return only a quarter of savings originally expected.”
Auditor General Report released today, page 10
Opposition WasteWatch Chairman Jonathan O’Dea has slammed the State Labor Government for wasting millions of dollars on a new licensing system.
The IT project aims to simplify the licensing processes of all licensing agencies, except for the Road and Traffic Authority.
“The concept is good but like so many State Labor Government projects, the execution has been found wanting and the NSW taxpayer is once again left to pick up the bill,” Mr O’Dea said.
“The Rees Labor Government appears to think the licensing system is a license to waste more taxpayers’ money,” he said.
NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat described the IT project as 9 years late, $23 million over budget and will return less than one third of the original net savings.
“What an indictment – but it gets worse!” Mr O’Dea said.
“It’s not the first time the Auditor-General has raised concerns over a government IT project.
“In 2003 his office reported numerous problems with the governance and implementation of Sydney Water’s Customer Information and Billing System. Six years later it seems the State Labor Government is still either unable or unwilling to adapt.
“This further evidence of waste and mismanagement is shocking, but not surprising when one considers the other IT project failures, including the T-card fiasco and the JusticeLink system.
“It is clear this government cannot deliver projects in full, on time and on budget. It is time this government stopped acting as if it had a license to waste money,” Mr O’Dea said.
