Australian Politics General...

[CanOz]

I hope some heads roll over this if they haven't already


IBM's legal stoush with Queensland Health over payroll debacle ends

By Lexy Hamilton-Smith

Large enterprise application implementations take total commitment and world class change management practices if full success is to be realized on time and on budget. I witnessed one of these take place at my former employer and while many would say it wasn't perfect, it was certainly well received...

An inquiry found the system failure, one of the worst public administrations failures in Australia's history, was partly the fault of public servants who failed to manage the project properly.

Sounds like the change management process wasn't well managed here...

 

[Craton]

From what a mate has told me (he worked on same of these big projects) it wasn't just the Qld health system payroll s/ware that was a bit of a debaucle either.

The shift to automated toll road collection was another.

 

[SirRumpole]

Large enterprise application implementations take total commitment and world class change management practices if full success is to be realized on time and on budget. I witnessed one of these take place at my former employer and while many would say it wasn't perfect, it was certainly well received...



Sounds like the change management process wasn't well managed here...

Both the Newman and Palaszczuk governments seemed more intent on suing IBM than conducting a genuine enquiry to find out exactly what went wrong, thus adding to the bottom line bill.

This fiasco, and the one you pointed out regarding tolls indicates to me that there needs to be a Federal body containing the expertise to manage such projects. Maybe Infrastructure Australia should be that body. The same sort of mismanagement seems to occur time after time in all States and it looks as though they are staffed by amateurs.

 

[Tisme]

From what a mate has told me (he worked on same of these big projects) it wasn't just the Qld health system payroll s/ware that was a bit of a debaucle either.

The shift to automated toll road collection was another.

yes QLD was not alone in the affair. There were other states too, with perhaps more expended, who managed to kill it off under the radar. This is what you get when you buddy up to outside consultants who have a beneficial stake in the project.

Trying to make a system designed for a retail chain fit into the hundreds of payroll structures of govt was ill conceived and naive.

 

[Tisme]

Both the Newman and Palaszczuk governments seemed more intent on suing IBM than conducting a genuine enquiry to find out exactly what went wrong, thus adding to the bottom line bill.

This fiasco, and the one you pointed out regarding tolls indicates to me that there needs to be a Federal body containing the expertise to manage such projects. Maybe Infrastructure Australia should be that body. The same sort of mismanagement seems to occur time after time in all States and it looks as though they are staffed by amateurs.

They know what went wrong. It's a look away situation now.

 

[SirRumpole]

A hypothetical problem about retrospectivity.

If a government announced the re introduction of death duties on people who died after a year from now, is it

a. not retrospective because it doesn't apply to people who died before the announcement or

b. is retrospective because it taxes assets acquired before the announcement ?

Surely most tax measures could be attacked as retrospective, so is "retrospectivity" even a valid point to argue regarding tax changes ?

 

[Tisme]

Tuckey and cobbers

 

[Smurf1976]

The same sort of mismanagement seems to occur time after time in all States and it looks as though they are staffed by amateurs.

The problem is the political cycle.

The PS goes through cycles of slow expansion followed by abrupt and generally chaotic contraction.

During that contraction phase, which is usually but not always associated with a Liberal government, those best able to gain employment elsewhere are the ones to leave first and walk away with $$$ in the form of a redundancy.

During the growth phase there's a development of skills but many in due course leave once they realise that the contraction phase is inevitable at some point and that the "job for life" bit only applies to a few generalists and rarely to those with technical knowledge.

The overall effect of the cycle is to concentrate the PS with generalists and purge out specialists. So we end up with some departments now having an army of contract administrators and so on but not a single person who understands what the contractors are supposed to be doing. Needless to say this doesn't work out too well and tends to be rather profitable for the contractors.

 

[Knobby22]

So true.
Even worse, specialists are considered limited and unable to understand the full picture. The truth is that it is more likely the generalist that misses the salient points.

 

[dutchie]

EXCLUSIVE Miles Godfrey and Leigh van den Broeke, The Daily Telegraph
July 3, 2016 4:25pm


BILLIONAIRE retailer Gerry Harvey says Australia has been ungovernable since John Howard was dumped from *office and claims the only cure for the nation’s broken democracy ”” hamstrung by years of dismal infighting ”” is to install a dictator.

Business leaders reacted with dismay at the knife-edge election result, which leaves the nation facing three more years of uncertainty, the possible loss of its triple-A credit rating and the likelihood that meaningful reforms will be blocked in a hostile Senate.
Post election lament... Gerry Harvey

Australian Institute of Company Directors CEO and former NSW Liberal leader John Brogden described the result as “the worst possible outcome for Australia”.

Mr Harvey said the nation was living beyond its means but claimed neither side of politics could do anything about it because of the prolonged instability in Canberra.


Bring on the benevolent dictator!!

 

[basilio]

What is a true Conservative political philosophy in Australia ? I think the question should be asked in light of the radical conservatism currently espoused by the Cory Bernardis and Tony Abbotts in the Liberal party.

I came across a thoughtful analysis on the subject in Meanjin Quarterly. Just quoted part of the comments.

Conservatives should always endeavour to support the unity and camaraderie of the national family. In this regard, conservatives should support the formal recognition of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Conser*va*tives respect history and heritage, and in this country no-one’s heritage and history should be more respected than that of Indigenous Australia. It is past time to give our Indigenous brothers and sisters the recognition that they have been too long denied. Similarly, conservatives should defend the religious faiths of all Australians, particularly our Muslim citizens, as we do our Jewish and Christian citizens. We have no religious tests in this country and we should not countenance their imposition now. Conservatives should also recall that any restriction on Islamic religious freedom will soon find its way to other faiths””and that this path too often leads to the guillotine or the gulag. The ‘freedom’-inspired reforms of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act are of marginal utility for whatever libertarian cause is being pushed, and prudence, as opposed to absolutism, would be a better guide on this issue. Certainly, Malcolm Turnbull’s instincts were more sound and conservative on the ‘freedom agenda’ than those pursuing this gambit. What is conservative about promoting divisions in a pluralistic society? Rather, like St Paul and the London Irish Rifles, our motto should be ‘Who shall separate us?’24

https://meanjin.com.au/essays/conservative-futures/

 

[Tisme]

So the ALP continue to garner the largest % of voters @ 35.3% so far;
the Libs 28.4%
the Greens 9.9%
the LNP 8.3%
the Nationals 4.9%
etc

 

[SirRumpole]

What is a true Conservative political philosophy in Australia ?

Most Conservatives seem to hail the Menzies and Howard eras as the high points in political conservatism, but as far as I remember nothing much happened in either of those administrations and they just let the world drift by.

Howard actually would have got my vote if he had invested in productive infrastructure with the billions he reaped from the mining boom instead of frittering it away on vote grabbing middle class welfare like free superannuation etc, which also annoyed Costello as I recall.

I think Bernadi and co are off on the loony fringe of the Libs. John Howard didn't have much love for them and I doubt Menzies would have either.

 

[Tisme]

What is a true Conservative political philosophy in Australia ?

There is nothing special about the conservative political parties here. The Coalition exists, as did its predecessor the UAP to oppose the Labor Party of the day. Quite simply it is a permanent opposing team to anything Labor extol, popular vote catching aside.

Never overthink the Liberal Party, it's just a comfortable pair of slippers for the majority of followers who have lost their zest for life and instead a desire for a lazy man's esprit de corps where the complaining mouth does all the mechanics while the limbs do zip.

 

[qldfrog]

There is nothing special about the conservative political parties here. The Coalition exists, as did its predecessor the UAP to oppose the Labor Party of the day. Quite simply it is a permanent opposing team to anything Labor extol, popular vote catching aside.

Never overthink the Liberal Party, it's just a comfortable pair of slippers for the majority of followers who have lost their zest for life and instead a desire for a lazy man's esprit de corps where the complaining mouth does all the mechanics while the limbs do zip.

obviously a nice objective vision of those who do not hold the view of the Truth as defined by Tisme;
This tirade is well in the line of some neocon rants we can also find in the forums..A bit disappointing...

 

[Tisme]

obviously a nice objective vision of those who do not hold the view of the Truth as defined by Tisme;
This tirade is well in the line of some neocon rants we can also find in the forums..A bit disappointing...

I don't rant my friend, I merely hold a mirror to the truth, and you obviously "can't handle the truth".

If you don't believe what I say, do your own homework on the Liberal party founding history (factual) and I will welcome your apology. I'll repeat it for you : the Liberal Party is predicated on opposing the Labor Party.

Remember I don't vote either yours or theirs, so I'm objective.

 

[sptrawler]

I don't rant my friend, I merely hold a mirror to the truth, and you obviously "can't handle the truth".

If you don't believe what I say, do your own homework on the Liberal party founding history (factual) and I will welcome your apology. I'll repeat it for you : the Liberal Party is predicated on opposing the Labor Party.

Remember I don't vote either yours or theirs, so I'm objective.

If you don't vote yours or theirs and are objective, you would have critiqued the Labor Party at the same time.

Mate you're full of it.

Somewhat blinded by your own BS.lol

 

[qldfrog]

If you don't vote yours or theirs and are objective, you would have critiqued the Labor Party at the same time.

Mate you're full of it.

Somewhat blinded by your own BS.lol

Nothing to add there.
Tisme, I initially thought you were truly non affiliated (as i am actually!) but your input in these threads made it clear it is not the case.Maybe you just belong to an ALP faction still to be found
Sir Rumpole is openly ALP: nothing wrong with that (well...kind of ) as Noco for example is openly LNP (unless I am very wrong);
At least, a debate can be held.
Anyway, a bit off the thread.We are back in politics to a non action nothing done mode.
The deficit will widen and this country fxxked in a big way with only a few of our duopoly politicians acknowledging the current state of the electorate: neither party as they stand are answering the needs of the country;

What about the GST increase, the negative gearing restrictions and super reviews etc, these are obvious areas which need to be tackled to redress the budget as is tax avoidance by the majors multinationals: mining and Amazon(s) of this world
Can not both party agree on that?I tend to believe a clear platform on these items would have been successful

 

[dutchie]

The General Public: "We want our politicians to do something."

The Politicians: " We are living beyond our means so we will have to decrease spending on health, education and welfare."

The General Public: "Oh no, you can't do that."

 

[Tisme]

Tisme, I initially thought you were truly non affiliated (as i am actually!) but your input in these threads made it clear it is not the case.Maybe you just belong to an ALP faction still to be found

If you are going to bait qldfrog, you need to do it better than that.

Ask yourself why my friends and I would openly declare voting for Pauline Hanson before the election ... she is the mortal enemy of Labor moreso than the LNP and Greens = answer = because we are fed up with the tedium and anxiety of having Drill Sergeants instead of Vanguard Generals.

My philosophies are simple and far more liberal than the supposed Liberal Party. I actually believe in the right of the individual to have his or her own opinion without being mocked by some political union like the ALP, LNP, Greens, etc and they are UNIONS whether we like it or not.

If having a social conscience and allegiance to our nation is interpretted an ALP faction hack so be it, but in truth I see things in three dimensions, not a tunnel between political bookends Commos one end Facists the other.

If and when you see an ALP in power you will see my same critical eye focused on them, because they will be the ones in charge not the LNP. .........

You ain't seen vitriol until you've seen me under attack on other forums for denouncing Gillard and Rudd