The CIT case study involving contracts awarded to “systems thinker” Patrick Hollingworth confirmed how lacking the oversight of public procurement is in the ACT. Photo: Region.
The ACT Auditor-General has painted a disturbing picture of the way taxpayers’ money is being spent on goods and services in the territory.
The just-tabled report into the Government Procurement Board, a body that is supposed to ensure agencies and statutory bodies get the best value for money when they issue tenders, shows that the checks and balances of the system are flawed.
The report found the board was loath to delve too deeply into matters, allowed itself to be rushed, and stood by as its advice or misgivings were ignored.
It needed to be more sceptical and assertive in questioning procurement approaches and decisions, the report said.
The CIT case study, a disturbing read in itself, shows how the board was kept in the dark about the contractor, fobbed off and its concerns made redundant when CIT pre-emptively when to market.
The decision to spend more than $5 million in one contract to ‘systems thinker’ Patrick Hollingworth, who had been the beneficiary of five previous contracts worth more than $3 million, reveals just how out of touch CIT was when it came to spending our money.
This was despite the disquiet the board had about the language employed in the requirements for the tender – jargonistic gobbledygook that was likely to narrow the field and confirm what appeared to be a predetermined outcome.
The Auditor-General used two other case studies, which, while not as sensational reading as the CIT one, still pointed to a board not doing its job as intended.
How much of taxpayers’ money is being thrown at consultants and providers without enough thought or investigation?
The abandonment of a long-running HR information management system project after spending $76 million is another example of huge amounts of money disappearing into black holes.
It’s not as if the ACT Government has money to burn.
A small territory without much of a tax base, and whose highest single source of income is Commonwealth-raised GST, should be counting every penny.
This report and other procurement revelations only seem to confirm the view that living and working in the Canberra honeypot makes some blasé, or at least disengaged from the real world, about vast sums of cash and spending other people’s money.
The question needs to be asked: Are some contractors worth the money they are asking?
The report also suggests that tender requirements need to be overhauled so language can be clearer and more specific.
While there is no suggestion of corruption or wrongdoing, what has been revealed can lend itself to corrupt activity when matters are so opaque and there is an air of urgency.
It also adds weight to the Opposition’s arguments that the government can’t be trusted with your money when its oversight appears to be so lacking, and has Tertiary Education Minister and Special Minister of State Chris Steel in its sights.
Last year, the ACT Government launched a three-year reform program for handling procurement, after significant issues were found with the way it awards contracts for public work.
This latest report only confirms how important this will be for public administration and the government’s own credibility.
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