ACT Minister Chris Steel still on the bridge

The ACT's very own Minister for the Department of Cock-ups clings on as though nothing much is untoward when $76 million (and counting) of taxpayers' money goes down the gurgler with barely a flush of the chain.

These things happen, is his line over the failure of the ACT government's upgrade to its HR system. Nothing to see here. Move along, please.

Or as he put it: "We're not the first government in Australia that has struggled to implement that type of payroll reform. And we're certainly looking at how we can take the learnings from this forward into more IT projects in the future."

Now, we can quibble about the clumsy English - any sub on the lowliest paper would tell him that "take the learnings from" might be better put as: "We will learn from this almighty balls-up."

But, there we are. It's a minor point. Clear English is not the minister's strong suit. He has long shown himself to be a master of euphemism and obscure language.

You would fully expect him to observe that "the feline creature is recumbent on the floor covering".

But it's not the robotic language which is the important thing here. It's the dismissive tone with which he refers to the utter waste of public money which sticks in the craw.

When the Opposition suggested to him that something was amiss, he told them: "Even a basic Google search about payroll systems would lead [shadow treasurer Peter Cain] to see several articles about previous difficulties that governments have had in implementing payroll systems across government."

He seemed to think this was some sort of defence - exoneration even - rather than the further condemnation, from his own mouth, that it actually was.

If "a basic Google search" would have revealed the difficulties which his department discovered after $76 million had disappeared around the u-bend, why had he not done it himself? Or suggested to one of his officials: "You couldn't Google this new whizzo system we're spending other people's money on, could you mate?"

Perhaps he did. In which case, he needs to tell the taxpayers. They need to know exactly how the system was chosen. There is something to see here. And taxpayers should not just move along, please.

Mr Steel does seem to have an attraction to icebergs.

He, you may remember, was the minister responsible for the Canberra Institute of Technology, which engaged "complexity and systems thinker" Patrick Hollingworth at the cost to the tax-payer of $4.99 million.

Mr Hollingworth is a reputable man. He has climbed mountains. He really has inspired people in his talks but it was hard to see exactly what the institute got for its - sorry, our - money.

He, too, was a master of the English language. It was all there to see on his website.

"My main thesis - which you're probably very much aware of - is that we have recently passed through a complexity threshold that will be incredibly difficult - and more-than-likely impossible - to pass back through," he wrote on October 29, 2020.

He conceded that there might be doubters: "But what if what I am writing is completely bogus? What if it's all bullshit? (It's not, I assure you, but please bear with me)."

Bear with him, Mr Steel's training institute did. But when Minister for Skills(!) Chris Steel learnt of the difficulties, he demanded answers from the CIT board. Oh, yes. He was very annoyed. And he wasn't satisfied at the answers he got. No, he wasn't.

"I am underwhelmed by your response and disappointed that CIT's governance arrangements have resulted in a situation where a series of procurements have, in my view, seriously damaged CIT's reputation."

But not his own reputation. He was, after all, only the minister.

What's that dreary old saying about bucks stopping somewhere?

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.