Dr LIM - 2000-10-18
The Northern Territory government’s policy of outsourcing to help grow business in the Territory has been going on for a while. It applies also to the IT industry. The federal government has also embarked on this outsourcing of its IT services, but has recently copped some flack over its strategy. Can the minister assure the Northern Territory that the government’s IT outsourcing is not going to cause the same angst?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do thank the honourable member for his question because I think it is a very important question considering what has happened in other jurisdictions around the country, not the least in Canberra in relation to getting value for money for government services and ultimately, of course, for the Northern Territory taxpayer.
One of the things that this government has done that I believe is markedly different from other jurisdictions is that, with the outsourcing process, we will retain within government a unit of people who will oversee all future IT technology and strategies so we will not lose a lot of that corporate control that has been outsourced elsewhere.
The other thing we need to do is, while growing the industry, which has been one of this government’s policies and endeavours in terms of what we are trying to do with the IT outsourcing, we must remain confident that we are getting value for money in doing this particular process. In fact, recently, such a benchmarking study was undertaken which looked at the current contract between the Northern Territory government and one of our IT outsourcing areas, which was with the Optus contract. What it found is that we are getting excellent value for money that is at or better than market rates. I believe that is good news because what we are seeing is value for money for the government and Territorians and increased competition in the market place, which is an additional spin-off.
We have seen in recent days the announcement from, certainly in this particular case, Optus, but Telstra also has not been lazy in any of these particular areas, but the announcement of a roll out of further IT technology in the Northern Territory with an additional 50 kilolitres of fibre optic cable that will link Darwin and Palmerston and the military facilities at Shoal Bay. This would not have happened if it had not been for the policies and the strategies of this government. While this particular strategy and IT roll out is not costing one cent from the government point of view, we are reaping the rewards of this additional infrastructure which would not have been in place if it had not been for the critical mass that we have helped to create.
I can certainly advise the honourable member for Greatorex, and all honourable members, that the current benchmarking is showing that already we are achieving excellent value for money, and that should not be understated.
The strategies we have in place are paying off in terms of the private sector, with additional roll outs of technology with both Telstra and Optus and other carriers. That is good news for Territorians. It would not have happened at the rate and at the level if it had not been for the action of this particular government, the government that is getting on with the job of providing these opportunities for Territorians. We will flow-on those benefits to the rest of the community, but it is good news for this government and good news for Territorians.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do thank the honourable member for his question because I think it is a very important question considering what has happened in other jurisdictions around the country, not the least in Canberra in relation to getting value for money for government services and ultimately, of course, for the Northern Territory taxpayer.
One of the things that this government has done that I believe is markedly different from other jurisdictions is that, with the outsourcing process, we will retain within government a unit of people who will oversee all future IT technology and strategies so we will not lose a lot of that corporate control that has been outsourced elsewhere.
The other thing we need to do is, while growing the industry, which has been one of this government’s policies and endeavours in terms of what we are trying to do with the IT outsourcing, we must remain confident that we are getting value for money in doing this particular process. In fact, recently, such a benchmarking study was undertaken which looked at the current contract between the Northern Territory government and one of our IT outsourcing areas, which was with the Optus contract. What it found is that we are getting excellent value for money that is at or better than market rates. I believe that is good news because what we are seeing is value for money for the government and Territorians and increased competition in the market place, which is an additional spin-off.
We have seen in recent days the announcement from, certainly in this particular case, Optus, but Telstra also has not been lazy in any of these particular areas, but the announcement of a roll out of further IT technology in the Northern Territory with an additional 50 kilolitres of fibre optic cable that will link Darwin and Palmerston and the military facilities at Shoal Bay. This would not have happened if it had not been for the policies and the strategies of this government. While this particular strategy and IT roll out is not costing one cent from the government point of view, we are reaping the rewards of this additional infrastructure which would not have been in place if it had not been for the critical mass that we have helped to create.
I can certainly advise the honourable member for Greatorex, and all honourable members, that the current benchmarking is showing that already we are achieving excellent value for money, and that should not be understated.
The strategies we have in place are paying off in terms of the private sector, with additional roll outs of technology with both Telstra and Optus and other carriers. That is good news for Territorians. It would not have happened at the rate and at the level if it had not been for the action of this particular government, the government that is getting on with the job of providing these opportunities for Territorians. We will flow-on those benefits to the rest of the community, but it is good news for this government and good news for Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016