Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is directed to Senator Minchin, Minister for Finance and Administration. Can the minister confirm that the government has been responsible for the bungled management of IT projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Didn’t the Centrelink project titled the ‘Edge’ get quietly cancelled after $20 million had been spent on the failed project? Can the minister confirm that the cost of a Defence personnel IT project blew out from $25 million to over $75 million while failing to deliver the contracted capability? Didn’t the bungled Customs cargo management project end up costing an extra $175 million, with taxpayers potentially having to fork out millions more in compensation payments? Given these failures, and as the minister for finance, what is the minister doing to protect taxpayers’ interests in the $1 billion smartcard and other major IT projects currently on foot?