Mr BAILEY - 1996-05-23
I draw his attention to the competing tenders for the client cost information system between McDonnell Douglas Information Systems (MDIS) and Hospital Cost Consultants (HCC). Members would be aware of a letter to the minister from HCC relating to the tendering process. Will the minister give an undertaking that a comprehensive commercial and technical review will be carried out on these competing tenders, and that he will report back to the Assembly with its findings?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is an absolutely absurd question from the member for Wanguri. Would he have us do a technical assessment on the competing tenders after the work is done? Does he not think that we would have done it before the work was completed? It is more appropriate to make a technical assessment before any tender is accepted. That is the time to assess competitive bids in technical, financial and all other aspects.
Mr Bailey: Why didn't you take competitive bids?
Mr Reed: It was not him, it was the Tender Board.
Mr FINCH: Every time the government awards a contract, and that is probably 2000 or 3000 times a year, it needs to know what it is getting and for how much. In the world of information technology, it is a matter not only of what you get and for how much, but also of performance. The member for Wanguri is talking about a company. He has received an angry letter from an unsuccessful tenderer who was counselled and debriefed as to why he missed out.
Let me give members opposite this comparison. The company that the member for Wanguri is sticking up for has 2 projects under way in Australia which are not yet completed and have not yet been tested. The successful tenderer has 58 projects in Australia which have been completed and tested.
Mr Bailey: Pre-tax losses of $80m and a share market price of ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! You may ask another question later. The minister is answering your first question.
Mr FINCH: If the member has something derogative to say about the financial capacity of the successful company, let him get if off his chest. That company may very well be interested in what he has to say.
All of the normal tender assessment processes were undertaken, not just by the project officers who were involved in writing the brief or the departmental project officers, but also through the procurement system. That is the only way it can be done.
Page 1416
Let me add that one of the criteria related to urgency of implementation. Members opposite crowed yesterday about the government not responding quickly enough. The government responded to the Cabinet submission, to do the $2m study and report, within days of its hitting the minister's desk. The government responded to the subsequent report by commissioning a $15.16m computer upgrade within weeks of that report reaching Cabinet. The government did not simply agree to it, but moved to implement it with money immediately. One of the major criteria, apart from the ability to provide what was needed in information technology, was how quickly it could be done. It was taken very seriously - particularly so, given that an additional process was included in the evaluation undertaken by Treasury officers to ensure that the programs put forward by the tenderer, for commissioning and implementation, could be met. That called for all sorts of investigations, down to whom they had on the ground, the rate at which equipment could be bought, and more. It was a more comprehensive pre-commencement evaluation than would be found on 99% of other jobs.
Page 1417
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is an absolutely absurd question from the member for Wanguri. Would he have us do a technical assessment on the competing tenders after the work is done? Does he not think that we would have done it before the work was completed? It is more appropriate to make a technical assessment before any tender is accepted. That is the time to assess competitive bids in technical, financial and all other aspects.
Mr Bailey: Why didn't you take competitive bids?
Mr Reed: It was not him, it was the Tender Board.
Mr FINCH: Every time the government awards a contract, and that is probably 2000 or 3000 times a year, it needs to know what it is getting and for how much. In the world of information technology, it is a matter not only of what you get and for how much, but also of performance. The member for Wanguri is talking about a company. He has received an angry letter from an unsuccessful tenderer who was counselled and debriefed as to why he missed out.
Let me give members opposite this comparison. The company that the member for Wanguri is sticking up for has 2 projects under way in Australia which are not yet completed and have not yet been tested. The successful tenderer has 58 projects in Australia which have been completed and tested.
Mr Bailey: Pre-tax losses of $80m and a share market price of ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order! You may ask another question later. The minister is answering your first question.
Mr FINCH: If the member has something derogative to say about the financial capacity of the successful company, let him get if off his chest. That company may very well be interested in what he has to say.
All of the normal tender assessment processes were undertaken, not just by the project officers who were involved in writing the brief or the departmental project officers, but also through the procurement system. That is the only way it can be done.
Page 1416
Let me add that one of the criteria related to urgency of implementation. Members opposite crowed yesterday about the government not responding quickly enough. The government responded to the Cabinet submission, to do the $2m study and report, within days of its hitting the minister's desk. The government responded to the subsequent report by commissioning a $15.16m computer upgrade within weeks of that report reaching Cabinet. The government did not simply agree to it, but moved to implement it with money immediately. One of the major criteria, apart from the ability to provide what was needed in information technology, was how quickly it could be done. It was taken very seriously - particularly so, given that an additional process was included in the evaluation undertaken by Treasury officers to ensure that the programs put forward by the tenderer, for commissioning and implementation, could be met. That called for all sorts of investigations, down to whom they had on the ground, the rate at which equipment could be bought, and more. It was a more comprehensive pre-commencement evaluation than would be found on 99% of other jobs.
Page 1417
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016