The Rees Labor Government’s appalling management of IT projects continues to adversely impact the State’s finances – and ultimately the hip pocket of every NSW resident, Opposition WasteWatch spokesman Jonathan O’Dea said today.
“In Volume Seven of the Auditor-General’s Report, released today, the latest examples of IT mismanagement have been exposed in Sydney Water Corporation,” Mr O’Dea said.
The report stated: ‘The budget for the project to consolidate the Corporation’s asset management software has been increased from $18.4 million to $31.3 million and the completion date extended from August 2009 to October 2010’
“Here is a budget blowout of almost $13 million – or close to 70% – and a 14 month delay, but it gets worse,” Mr O’Dea said.
“The report has disclosed, ‘The budget for Stage 1 of the development of a Customer Management System has been increased from $21.0 million to $55.3 million and the completion date extended from August 2009 to February 2011’
“That’s a blowout of more than 160% and a delay of 18 months,” Mr O’Dea said.
“This report on poor performance follows recent disclosures of an IT project to simplify licensing processes, which the Auditor General described as 9 years late, $23 million over budget and expected to return less than one third of the original net savings.
“Then there’s the grossly mishandled T-Card project which has cost the state around $100 million and delivered nothing except a financial black hole.
“The JusticeLink Project is another IT disaster, which was originally estimated to cost $30.3 million and be implemented in 2006, but in 2008 the estimated cost is $48.2 million, excluding costs to complete training and implementation.
“NSW Labor is clearly not learning from its abysmal past performance. The Government must have better processes and governance, including improved project management and scoping work before commencing development of IT projects,” Mr O’Dea concluded.
