Millions of dollars blown in bungled IT contract

Almost $24 million has been blown on a bungled IT contract that was supposed to streamline debt recovery from Queensland fine defaulters.

ALMOST $24 million has been blown on a bungled IT contract that was supposed to streamline debt recovery from Queensland fine defaulters.

Treasurer Jackie Trad yesterday stepped in to cancel the $70 million contract awarded to Canadian-based software outfit CGI Collections in 2016 following repeated delays and cost blowouts.

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The massive IT project was ordered in an effort to arm the State Penalties and Enforcement Register with more efficient ways to chase down debts and provide defaulters with improved repayment options.

However, the delivery date has so far been pushed back by two years because of repeated problems during testing while the budget has increased from an original allocation of $47.2 million to $69.5 million.

It is understood $23.8 million in progress payments have been made to the company so far and the money is unlikely to be recovered.

The delivery of IT projects remains a sensitive political issue for the Labor administration following the health payroll bungle during the Bligh government.

Ms Trad’s decision to cancel the contract comes less than two months after she asked the Auditor-General to launch an inquiry into the project after raising concern many times about its progress.

“This decision has been made due to ongoing program delays and follows in-depth consideration of the options and the best way forward,” the Treasurer told The Courier-Mail.

“Queenslanders have a right to a SPER system that delivers. The delays, and the costs associated with this process, have been unacceptable.”

Ms Trad said the program to continue raising the amount of debts recovered annually and slow the progress of growth in unpaid fines would continue.

The decision to cancel the contract comes almost a year after Office of State Revenue Commissioner Elizabeth Goli assured The Courier-Mail that the system was on track to be delivered.

Former under treasurer Jim Murphy told a Budget estimates hearing last year that “the contract is safe and sound in terms of the cost”.

Ms Trad’s predecessor Curtis Pitt also insisted there were no issues.