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The Courier-Mail Queensland

Secret Cabinet documents emerge as Labor tries to

fend off inquiry over Queensland Health payroll

• From:The Courier-Mail

• November 01, 201212:43PM

• 84 comments

A FORMER Labor minister has branded the proposed inquiry into the Queensland Health

payroll debacle as nothing more than a "political witchhunt".

Robert Schwarten, a long-running Public Works minister who retired at the last election, said the

inquiry (http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/secret-cabinet-documents-emerge-as-labor-

tries-to-fend-off-inquiry-over-queensland-health-payroll-debacle/story-e6freoof-1226507901431) was a

concocted distraction aimed at drawing attention away from the myriad of woes being suffered by

an incompetent administration.

His comments follow the revelation State Parliament's Health and Community Services

Committee proposed a royal commission-style inquiry (http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/secret-cabinet-documents-emerge-as-labor-tries-to-fend-

off-inquiry-over-queensland-health-payroll-debacle/story-e6freoof-1226507901431) into the fiasco or

undertaking its own investigation.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday tabled secret Cabinet documents

showing the government's handling of the payroll bungle

(http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/labor-tables-secret-cabinet-documents-believed-to-

contain-legal-advice-on-health-payroll-bungle/story-e6freoof-1226507720771) following that revelation

but denied it was to protect former Bligh Government ministers.

Mr Schwarten, who was the minister in charge of the former Government's technology arm when

the decision was made in 2010 to go live with the payroll system, said he was unperturbed about

threats of a royal commission because he had a "clear memory and even clearer conscience".

"But I would have thought that the tens of millions of dollars wasted in a political witchhunt that

will go nowhere could be better spent keeping nurses homes open or cancer research instead of

filling lawyers pockets," he told The Courier-Mail before the release of the documents.

At 12.30pm, Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) secretary Beth Mohle said she would support

legal action being taken to recover the cost of the payroll bungle, but warned against a Royal

Commission.

"The Queensland Nurses Union has spent many years dealing with this payroll disaster and these

documents will certainly shed some light in terms of what the advice was to government," she

said.

"This disaster as we all know is of unparalleled proportions. It was due to incompetence ... but if

there is anything to be gained by having yet another inquiry, we would need to be convinced."

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Ms Mohle said the money could be better spent elsewhere with numerous reports already

commissioned into the disaster.

"It would just go to lining the pockets of lawyers and consultants. We have already had the auditor

-general's report last year," Ms Mohle said.

"We have had reports by Ernst and Young, PricewaterhouseCooper, KPMG; we've had this

looked at from every different angle."

The union is still working through the documents tabled by Ms Palaszczuk yesterday, Ms Mohle

said, but so far they had not uncovered any surprises.

Earlier, Mr Schwarten branded Health Minister Lawrence Springborg a "sanctimonious windbag"

with the integrity of a "pack of cow manure" for doing the Government's dirty work creating a

distraction.

He said if Mr Springborg wanted to get to the bottom of what went wrong he could simply talk to

former under treasurer and now Queensland Investment Corporation chief Gerard Bradley, who

signed the contract with IBM.

"Bradley signed it, he is the best one to answer the questions and he is a Government employee,"

Mr Schwarten said.

The secret Cabinet documents reveal (http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/secret- cabinet-documents-emerge-as-labor-tries-to-fend-off-inquiry-over-queensland-health-payroll-debacle/story-

e6freoof-1226507901431) the Bligh government was advised to walk away from a legal battle over

the Queensland Health payroll debacle rather than face a public court battle.

The documents, released by the State Opposition after months of pressure, include details of

legal advice, contracts with IBM and moves to claw back overpayments.

They also raise issues about the initial tender for the payroll system.

But the Newman Government has not ruled out mounting legal action in a bid to claw back some

of the $1.2 billion wasted.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk released the documents yesterday after refusing to

make them public in her seven months at the helm of Labor.

She said the surprise release had nothing to do with the Government's threat, revealed

exclusively by The Courier-Mail this week, to send the matter to a parliamentary inquiry.

Labor will hope the release of the documents avoids the need for former ministers such as Robert

Schwarten and Paul Lucas, who wore most of the blame for the debacle, to front an inquiry to

relive the lowest point of the Bligh government.

Labor's effort to rebuild its image would be set back if former ministers were thrust back into the

spotlight.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said he would now seek urgent advice on whether the

Government could take legal action to finally recoup the cost of the bungle.

"At least we may know if we have any sort of legal redress against the former government,

individuals or contractors," he said.

"That may result in some positive outcome for taxpayers, but let's look at the documents."

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One document reveals the cabinet budget review committee had favoured an "orderly" settlement

with contractor IBM after legal advice suggested it was "inevitable" the company would bring a

legal counterclaim.

"Crown law also advises that it is almost inevitable that IBM will bring counterclaims against the

state for breach of contract and unpaid fees if the state begins proceedings against IBM," it read.

The documents also showed the cabinet budget review committee was warned in 2010 that

opting for a settlement could force it to give up any right to a future claim against IBM.

But the alternative - immediately cancelling the IBM contract and pursuing legal action - could

prompt the firm to "walk off the job", leaving the already troubled payroll system in chaos, Cabinet

was warned.

Details of that settlement are included in the documents tabled yesterday in which the state and

IBM agreed to rectify defects by October 31, 2010.

"The agreement releases IBM from those obligations that would normally be released had the

contract with IBM been finalised in a normal manner," one submission to the budget review

committee states.

"In addition, from October 31, 2010, the agreement released IBM from any remaining warranty

obligations for the Queensland Health rostering and payroll solution."

It says that at the time of negotiating the supplementary agreement there were 94 significant

defects with the system that required rectification. IBM agreed to rectify 35 priority items by the

October deadline.

Possible issues with the original tender requirements are also raised including in a document that

says "pursuing a defect warranty claim against IBM will be problematic due to the high-level

nature of the state's system requirements and the uncertainty of its original tender requirement."

Ms Palaszczuk denied the release was an attempt to protect former Bligh ministers from a royal

commission.

The State Government plans to publish a link to the Cabinet documents on Queensland Health's

intranet site so health workers can read about the payroll problems.

- reporting by Steven Wardill, Kelmeny Fraser, Sarah Vogler

The Courier-Mail

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