Labor’s IT bungle costs Queenslanders $220m

Labor’s decision to proceed with a faulty multi-million dollar health payroll system, despite IT experts warning of a ‘catastrophic’ failure, was yet another example of Bligh Government waste, Fiona said.

Fiona, who revealed the leaked document which showed Labor knew about the size of the problems before going live with the system, said it was criminal the waste of money that had been thrown at the bungled system.

It is extraordinary that despite being cautioned by IT specialists on 21 September 2009, Labor allowed the disastrous health payroll system to go live in March 2010.

The inept Bligh Government has cost Queensland taxpayers more than $220 million to fix the IT problem and yet while 400 extra staff are still working to correct the crisis, thousands of Queensland Health staff are still not being paid properly. Altogether, the system has cost $283 million to date.

Instead of disciplining the people responsible for the biggest administrative failure in Queensland Government history, Labor gave a senior public servant and Health Minister Paul Lucas promotions and even higher tax-payer funded salaries.