31 January 2001 - Media Release

Centrelink decision an embarrassment for Fahey

Labor welcomes a decision by the Department of Family and Community Services and the Centrelink Board to reject John Fahey’s approach to IT Outsourcing and discontinue the existing Tender process for Group 1.

The Humphry Review into IT Outsourcing recommended that Group 1, which includes Centrelink and the Department of Family and Community Services, “should not proceed until the Centrelink Board is satisfied that the transition and implementation risks can be effectively managed’.

“This decision by Centrelink and the Department of Family and Community Services not to proceeded is an acknowledgment that they would have been exposed to unacceptable risks and liabilities,” Senator Lundy said.

“The Coalition must accept responsibility for the disruption and costs imposed on departments and agencies to date, as well as the IT companies that have spent huge sums preparing tender documentation to date.

“The decision by Centrelink’s Board to explore strategic sourcing indicates a willingness to pursue best practice principles in sourcing IT expertise.

“Hopefully this approach will make the most of the knowledge and expertise that exists within the Department while drawing on innovative developments in the private sector.

“The Department of Family and Community Services and Centrelink’s rejection of the Fahey/OASITO approach to outsourcing is further evidence of the mess the Minister for Finance, OASITO and multimillion dollar consultants made of IT outsourcing,” Senator Lundy said.

19/01. Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

25 January 2001 - Media Release

Lundy congratulates the 2001 Young Australian of the Year

Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Kate Lundy offered her congratulations today to the 2001 Young Australian of the Year.

The finalists for each category were awardees in State and Territory programs.

The Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Kate Lundy said today, “I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations to James Fitzpatrick and all the young Australians whose achievements were recognised and I wish them all well in the future.

“The Young Australian of the Year Awards serve to honour those young people who have been working tirelessly in their communities fuelled by a passion to make things better for all. James Fitzpatrick is no exception.

“Our communities are full of quiet young achievers and it is rare that the nation gets an opportunity to say thank you to younger generations for their energy, talent and inspiration.

“I would also like to extend this acknowledgement to those young people throughout the country from surf-lifesavers, to baby-sitters, to youth board appointees for also doing their bit for their community and our nation”, Senator Lundy concluded.

“The young people involved in Youth Roundtables are stand-out leaders in their communities and have volunteered six months of their time in good faith to pursue good policies that support Australia’s youth. But Minister Kemp has demoted their efforts from being “a direct line to Government” to a Coalition controlled focus group,” Senator Lundy said.

“After participating in the Youth Roundtable, members are at the mercy of the Minister who decides when, where, how and what policy initiatives he will look at.

“The 1999 Youth Roundtable members had to wait nine months for a copy of their recommendations only to have a second copy sent out two weeks later after complaints about spelling errors, duplications and incorrect author recognition in some papers.

“It’s time Minister Kemp toned down the rhetoric and started to seriously consider the initiatives of these young people”, Senator Lundy concluded.

Concerned members of both the 1999 and 2000 youth roundtable programs had input into the wording of the petitions.

The petitions can be found on Kate Lundy’s webpage

Launch details

Where: Big Pig Internet Café, 14 Cooyong Street, Civic

When: Thursday 25 January at 3.00 pm

17/01 Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6377 3334 or 0418 488295.
Youth Affairs contact: Verity Newnham on 02 6277 3334 or 0419 474588

24 January 2001 - Media Release

Fahey fails to answer questions about $17 million payment to US advisers

The Department of Finance has failed to answer crucial questions on notice regarding the payment of $17 million for ‘strategic advice’ on IT Outsourcing to the US law firm Shaw Pittman.

At the November 2000 round of senate estimates, Senator Lundy asked the Department of Finance and the Office of Asset Sales and IT Outsourcing (OASITO) a series of questions relating to the US$11.4 million ($17.07) paid to the New York legal firm Shaw Pittman for ‘strategic advice’.

Shaw Pittman was hired by OASITO as a ‘Strategic Adviser’ for Minister Fahey’s IT Outsourcing Program and was paid in US dollars. According to the Auditor General’s report into IT Outsourcing, Shaw Pittman’s original assignments were not competitively tendered and no documentation was supplied to explain why. The Auditor General noted that:

The ANAO was unable to locate any Commonwealth record of the selection process used to initially identify and engage the Strategic Adviser, nor was there any evidence of a contract being signed (ANAO Report No. 9, p 76)

It was only after Labor exposed Finance’s avoidance of their own competitive tendering with the original appointment of Shaw Pittman that OASITO bothered to issue a limited invitation to 17 firms to tender, but gave them only ten days to respond to a multimillion dollar proposal. Shaw Pittman was hired with a tender price that was 44% higher than the nearest tender.

Senator Lundy asked the Department of Finance on November 28, 2000 the crucial questions - why was Shaw Pittman paid in US dollars, whose idea was it to pay them in US dollars and how much had these payments risen given the drop in the Australian dollar.

Not surprisingly, the Department of Finance all but refused to answer these questions.

“Yet again, the Department of Finance is refusing to reveal the truth about the payments to Shaw Pittman,” Senator Lundy said.

“Their non answers to questions on notice about this massive payment, for what can at best be described as poor advice, is a gross misuse of taxpayers money.

“Either the Department of Finance is trying to hide a major waste of money on IT Outsourcing advisers or they are trying to cover up for minister Fahey’s incompetent mismanagement,” Senator Lundy said.

16/01. Media contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 02 6277 3334

23 January 2001 - Media Release

Coalition backs multinationals over small Australian IT businesses

The Coalition continues to ignore the most important aspect of IT industry development - opportunities for growth for Australian IT small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), Senator Kate Lundy said today.

“It is extremely disappointing and frustrating that the Coalition continues to back multinational vendors involved in IT outsourcing at the expense of the Australian IT industry,” Senator Lundy said today.

“The Coalition is ignoring the concerns of small IT businesses which have effectively been locked out of John Fahey’s IT Outsourcing Program. These concerns were expressed in detail in a report prepared by Senator Alston’s Department and the Australian Information Industries Association back in 1999 (The IT Engine Room), which canvassed the views of IT SMEs.

“Small business was ignored then, and they are being ignored now.

“Senator Alston’s claim that the Government’s IT outsourcing Program ‘has achieved significant industry development outcomes for the Australian IT Industry’ is rubbish and has been contradicted by the Humphry Review, which accurately states there have only been commitments to date, not outcomes.

“The Humphry Review into the IT Outsourcing Program points out that the Coalition has so far refused to release crucial Industry Development (ID) annual reports, which are required under the contracts from each outsourcing vendor.

“Mr Humphry notes that the Coalition intends to ‘publish a separate report shortly’ outlining actual achievements. Unless the details of these contracted ID requirements are known, this summary report by the Government is meaningless.

"Even the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), in their report Implementation of Whole-of-Government Information Technology Infrastructure Consolidation and Outsourcing Initiative, confirmed that in some cases, industry development benchmarks were not being met in the IT Outsourcing Program.

"The Office of Asset Sales and Information Technology Outsourcing (OASITO) Annual Report 1999-2000 confirms that only 30% of the outsourcing contracts went to Australian small to medium enterprises anyway.

“This is a dismal outcome and I urge Australian IT SME’s to confront the Coalition over this dismal record and demand some well-deserved attention.

“The selective sourcing of IT expertise from the private sector, if approached sensibly, can provide important opportunities for growth for SMEs in Australia.

“It is disappointing that the Coalition is squandering these opportunities and continually favouring the big end of town.

“Labor reiterates it’s call for the release of the IT outsourcing contracts immediately and, in particular, the industry development clauses. This is the only way the Government can be accountable for the claims they make," Senator Lundy said.

15/01.Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

19 January 2001 - Media Release

Truss must come clean on AQIS computer crash

The Government must come clean about any damage a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the IT operations at the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) may have on Australia’s primary industries, Senator Kate Lundy said today.

During a backup of data over the weekend of January 13-14, the AQIS1 server crashed resulting in a ‘catastrophic failure’ which has left quarantine and inspection staff without computer access for almost a week. Data saved on Friday 12 January may have been permanently lost and staff have been advised not to save any new data on their computer hard drives.

AQIS is part of the Group 8 IT Outsourcing Program overseen by Finance Minister John Fahey.

“AQIS must come clean and explain what this failure means for Australia’s quarantine services,” Senator Lundy said.

“This may seem like a technical matter, but for Australia’s rural industries this latest failure of the Coalition’s IT Outsourcing Program could effect Quarantine Services delivery.

“Agriculture Minister Warren Truss must give an absolute guarantee that the IT programs at AQIS will not negatively effect the operations of AQIS and the integrity of our horticultural and grazing industries.

“He must also guarantee that there will be no future catastrophic failures effecting crucial AQIS services.

“I hope that this computer crash does not create an opportunity for pests and disease to sneak through while our electronic defences are down.

“Minister Truss must also confront John Fahey about this major failure of the Coalition’s IT Outsourcing Program, and demand that IT contract guarantees are properly met,” Senator Lundy said.

14/01. Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

17 January 2001 - Media Release

Survey shows Government incompetence resulted in inflated industry costs

“Minister Fahey’s pitiful defence of his IT Outsourcing program has been further undermined by an independent survey exposing how industry inflated their prices to compensate for the increased risks of doing business with an incompetent government,” Senator Lundy, Shadow Minister assisting on Information Technology, said today.

According to an Australian Institution of Engineers survey on government contracting practices released today, 32% of IT industry professionals rate government ‘below average’ as an informed buyer of information technologies.

The survey also found that governments are not necessarily ‘smart’ buyers of information and that there is a considerable cost associated with their inadequacy. Governments who are ‘uninformed’ buyers of information technology put at risk the capacity to:

In a disturbing revelation, the survey also found that 42% of industry would inflate their price to ‘hedge’ the risk if they thought they were dealing with an uniformed buyer. This ‘hedge’ could be between 5% and 50% of the contract value.

“This survey indicates that Government departments and agencies may have being paying too much for their IT as a direct result of the bungling by the Office of Asset Sales and Information Technology Outsourcing (OASITO).

“OASITO, under John Fahey’s direction, negotiated the contracts between the outsourcing vendors and government agencies.

“This makes a mockery of Mr Fahey’s attempt to protect the US firm Shaw Pittman, who were paid $17 million for ‘advice’ to OASITO.

“Just how much Shaw Pittman’s advice and OASITO’s mismanagement of these contracts has cost taxpayers will probably never know,” Senator Lundy said.

Quantifying the cost and frequency of inadequate information technology contracting practices by government, a survey by the Institution of Engineers is available at: http://www.ieaust.org/issues/publications.html

13/01. Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

17 January 2001 - Media Release

Who will clean up Fahey’s mess, Mr Howard?

The Prime Minister must move immediately to clean up John Fahey’s IT Outsourcing debacle by lifting the veil of secrecy from the IT outsourcing contracts already in place, Senator Kate Lundy said today.

“We are yet to hear how the damage done to 26 Government Departments and Agencies, including Health, Customs and Immigration, is going to be repaired,” Senator Lundy said.

“We also know that under Mr Fahey’s tenure, measures to protect Australian citizens privacy and security of information is inadequate, but we still don’t know how bad the situation is because the IT Outsourcing contracts are being kept secret by Minister Fahey.

“Both the information and the IT assets that the Coalition has allowed to be privatised belonged to Australian citizens, and as such we have a right to know the terms and conditions of their sale.

“The extent of this damage will remain unknown unless the contracts already signed are made public.

“Fahey’s folly means that most Government Departments and Agencies:

“Like a naughty schoolboy, John Fahey has spent all week making excuses for the IT Outsourcing shambles he has created. And the best he can come up with is a promise not to do it again.

“I call on Mr Howard to make the contracts public and allow them to be scrutinised.

“Only with public scrutiny of the contracts can there be confidence that all the failings are being addressed,” Senator Lundy said.

12/01.  Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

16 January 2001 - Media Release

2001 Roundtable Delegates Gagged on Environment

“The Government has compromised the ability of young people to discuss environmental issues by dumping environment from the 2001 National Youth Roundtable,” the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Kate Lundy, said today.

“The Coalition seems intent on preventing discussion on an issue of great importance to young Australians by making Youth Roundtable delegates incorporate their environmental concerns into other the discussion groups,” Senator Kate Lundy.

The next intake of Youth Roundtable members must now nominate one of six prescribed topic groups and conduct a community project according to that theme. The 2001 proposed topic groups include:

“By dropping environment the Minister is denying young people the ability to maximise the opportunity to consult with the Government on a topic which they have been particularly vocal in the past and acknowledged for their activism.

“The commitment to the environment demonstrated by this generation has not been recognised and acted upon by the Coalition. Environmental concerns expressed by past Youth Roundtable delegates have resulted in passionate discussions about air, water and soil quality, consumption of plastic bags, Indigenous land management techniques and Greenhouse gases as well as the complex issues of environmental ethics and energy production.

“Previously, Roundtable recommendations have urged the Government to consider targeted research, public education campaigns, environmental levies and specific strategies to tackle environmental problems.

“This decision to incorporate Environment across the topic groups distract from discussions on other important youth issues, as each group will have to compromise content to accommodate environment into their 30-45 minute presentations.

“I urge all young Australians to contact the Department and have their say before the 9th February and nominate issues which they believe are important and should be investigated by Roundtable members,” Senator Lundy said.

The National Youth Roundtable is the Government’s only formal mechanism to consult with young people. The 2001 program will convene in March.

Click on the link for  further information about the National Youth Roundtable

11/01.  Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

15 January 2001 - Media Release

Humphry Review exposes IT industry frustration with Coalition

The Humphry Review has revealed how Finance Minister John Fahey’s mismanagement of the Coalition’s $5 billion IT Outsourcing Program has squandered a real opportunity to grow Australia’s crucial IT industry sector, Senator Kate Lundy said today.

The Review of the Whole of Government Information Technology Outsourcing Initiative, conducted by Richard Humphry, is the second independent assessment to condemn Minister Fahey’s handling of IT outsourcing.

“Minister Fahey structured the IT Outsourcing contracts into massive ‘clusters’ and which grouped a number of agencies and department together. This effectively locked out Australian small to medium sized IT firms,” Senator Lundy said.

“Only 30 per cent of IT outsourcing contracts have been awarded to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), with 70 per cent going to US multinationals.

“These multinationals are also required to make annual reports stating their progress on their Industry Development (ID) commitments. Despite having asked for these reports at Senate Estimates, Ministers Fahey and Alston have continually prevented the public release of these industry development reports.

“The Coalition attempt to hose down this frustration by promising to ‘consult’ with the IT industry is too little, too late. Many of the concerns of the Australian IT SME’s were expressed three years ago when the Program was implemented - and arrogantly ignored.

“Once again Minister Fahey suffers a loss of credibility in claiming industry develop benefits when he point blank refuse to provide evidence for his claims.

“The Humphry review found that Australia’s IT industry ‘expressed strong views that the ID requirements are a piecemeal approach to achieving true ID in Australia’,” Senator Lundy concluded.

10/10. Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

15 January 2001 - Media Release

Howard must sack Fahey

Joint Press Release: Acting Opposition Leader Simon Crean and Senator Kate Lundy

John Howard has cut short his holidays to deal with the woeful mess his Finance Minister has made of the Government’s $5 billion IT Outsourcing program. 

His first job must be to sack John Fahey.

Howard's own standards dictate that he do no less. In February 1996 he told the National Press Club:

I would like the situation where Ministers are given the authority to take decisions in an ongoing policy sense and if after a period they don't make a go of it, well, you can replace them with somebody else. … I think it would be much better if we said to Ministers: right you are the Minister, you're running the department, you take the decisions but you know, if you really make a hash of it, well it's a very competitive world out there and we can have a few changes. 

Following last week's Humphry Report, the Government has effectively sacked the Finance Department from doing the outsourcing job. It should also sack the Minister.

Either way, Mr Fahey should make himself available to explain his incompetence to the Senate's inquiry into outsourcing.

Mr Fahey's mismanaged IT Outsourcing program has been marked by incompetence, deceit and cover-up at the highest level. 

He has wasted millions of dollars of public money, and has squandered the Commonwealth’s information technology resources. 

Even before last week's findings, the Auditor-General had issued a damning report showing that the savings from the outsourcing program were nowhere near those claimed by the Minister.

Mr Fahey's incompetence has severely damaged Commonwealth agencies as well as Australia’s IT industry.

His efforts to hide from the damning independent Humphry Review were pathetic. The review presented a devastating critique into Mr Fahey’s mismanagement of the program. Yet the Minister resorted to amateurish hide-and-seek games with the media in an attempt to hide the report.

Mr Fahey has lost all credibility.

If gross mismanagement of a $5 billion program is not grounds for dismissal, what is? Mr Howard's own standards dictate that he must sack his Minister today.

09/01 - Further information:  Phillip Tardif   (02) 6277 4045(w),  (0419) 497 103
Simon Tatz  0418 488 295

15 January 2001 - Media Release

Howard must sack Fahey today

The Prime Minister is back at work today and his first job this morning must be to sack Finance Minister John Fahey for incompetence.

John Fahey has totally mismanaged the $5 billion IT Outsourcing Program.

Mr Fahey has wasted millions of dollars of public money.

He has squandered the Commonwealth’s information technology resources.

He has inflicted enormous damage on Australia’s IT industry development.

If Mr Howard wants to salvage any credibility for his Government he must sack his Finance Minister this morning.

08/01.Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 48829

14 January 2001 - Media Release

Fahey plays pathetic hide and seek games with damning IT report

John Fahey, the Minister in charge of the Coalition's failed $5 billion IT Outsourcing Program, has lost all credibility by playing amateurish hide and seek games with a damning review into IT Outsourcing, Senator Kate Lundy said today.

“In a pathetic and desperate attempt to hide the independent Humphry Review - a devastating critique of Mr Fahey's mismanagement of the billion-dollar IT Outsourcing Program - Minister Fahey's office boxed a press release announcing the Review's findings after 6 pm on Friday January 12, when most journalists had already left.

“Mr Fahey's office did this knowing full well that there was a high level of interest in this much anticipated document and there were frequent inquiries to his office seeking a release date.

“Fahey's office refused to make copies of the Humphry Review publicly available. A "limited number" of copies were apparently left in a box in the Minister’s office, however when my office rang to pick up a copy, nobody answered the phone!

“I presume that Mr Fahey's office was also fully aware that the Parliamentary computer networks were being shut down for the weekend for operational purposes, meaning that the Humphry Review was not available on the Department of Finance’s Web site.

“Typically, Mr Fahey was not in Canberra for the release of this major Review into his own Outsourcing Program - he was somewhere on the North Coast, probably trying to avoid media scrutiny.

“This is not the first time Mr Fahey has tried to hide the Humphry Review.

“When he first announced the review into IT Outsourcing, he did so in the middle of the running of the Melbourne Cup in November 2000.

"Mr Fahey's attempts at playing hide and seek with the truth is a pathetic attempt to hinder scrutiny of a report which exposes his incompetence and mismanagement of the IT Outsourcing Program, Senator Lundy said.

"There's no point playing hide and seek Mr Fahey. Your amateurish games have been exposed and, despite your efforts to avoid scrutiny and accountability, your massive botching of the $5 billion IT outsourcing Program has been revealed and your resignation should now follow, Senator Lundy said.

07/01. Media Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488 295

13 January 2001 - Media Release

IT Outsourcing Review:  OASITO sacked, and Fahey should follow

Finance Minister John Fahey can no longer hide from responsibility for the woeful mess of the Government’s IT Outsourcing Program and should resign or be sacked, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister assisting on Information Technology said today.

The Humphry Review confirms the Coalition’s IT Outsourcing Program is not only dead in the water, but it appears to breach the Coalition’s own legislation for public service accountability.

The Review into IT Outsourcing makes it clear that the John Fahey’s Outsourcing Program runs counter to the Coalition Government’s own mechanisms for accounting for the spending of taxpayers’ money, the Financial Management Act (FMA) and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act (CAC). Under these Acts, it is agency and department heads who are responsible for the implementation of policies.

The Humphry Review recommends that IT outsourcing be brought into line with these Acts by effectively sacking OASITO (Office of Asset Sales and Information Technology Outsourcing) and allowing departments and agencies to assume responsibility for managing their own IT needs.

OASITO, a section of the Department of Finance that reports directly to the Minister, has had responsibility for implementing the IT Outsourcing Program.

But Minister Fahey preferred to use the Ministry of Finance as his bully boys to force a flawed policy on the agencies and departments, in apparent contradiction of the intention of the FMA and CAC.

It’s no wonder that agency and department heads questioned about IT outsourcing in recent Senate Estimates hearings all resorted to the Bart Simpson defence: ‘I didn’t do it’.

Minister Fahey’s own incompetent management created a system where no-one was prepared, or required, to take responsibility for managing the crucial IT systems of the federal government.

After the Humphrey Review’s recommendation for the immediate end of the process and the removal of the Department of Finance from any implementation role, no-one can doubt that the result of Fahey’s folly has been a disaster.

The Review vindicates what Labor has been saying for the last for years and makes a mockery of the vehement defences of the IT Outsourcing Program by Ministers Fahey and Alston.

The Humphry Review follows the damning report on IT Outsourcing from the Australian National Audit Office (Sept 2000) and leaves Minister Fahey’s attempts to defend the Program completely demolished.

The Government’s agreement to implement Humphry’s recommendations proves that the jig is now up for Minister Fahey and he should do the decent thing and resign.

06/01 Media Contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

10 January 2001 - Media Release

Poll reveals negative view of youth

“The results of a Newspoll exposing the entrenched negative perceptions older generations have of young people is extremely disappointing, the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Lundy, said today.

The results of the Newspoll, featured in today’s Daily Telegraph, contended that only 50% of adults were confident in this generation of young people taking over the reins of our nation and keep our country’s success story alive.

“Young people are bearing the brunt of this Government’s cutbacks to social support and education as well as the defunding of their national peak advisory body,” senator Lundy said.

“Under the Howard Government, the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ has widened and young people are disproportionately represented in measures of disadvantage.

“Mr Howard reinforces a negative perception of young people by his continual reinforcement of the message that young people are solely to blame for their hardships.

“Although some young people struggle to cope with the destabilising impact of our changing society, it is unfair and frustrating to hear them continually discredited.

“Young people in Australia:

“A better placed emphasis would have been to highlight that the poll also revealed that 77% of adults think today’s teenagers are under too much pressure.

“Generational respect and understanding is a two way street.

“I challenge the community, policy makers and the media to revaluate their perceptions of this generation, ” Senator Lundy said.

05/01.Media Contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

10 January 2001 - Media Release

Youth Olympic Festival starts today

The Sydney Youth Olympic Festival (SYOF), a biannual multi-sport event administered by the Australian Olympic Committee, begins its inaugural four-day program today.

The Sydney Youth Olympic Festival is designed for young Olympic aspirants between 15 and 19 years of age. The initial SYOF will be run from today through until Sunday.

The Sydney Youth Olympic Festival will showcase elite junior athletes competing in a range of summer Olympic Sports. The Festival enjoys the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.

The Sydney Youth Olympic Festival sporting program includes: athletics, basketball, canoe/kayak (sprint & slalom), cycling (road & track), hockey, gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic & trampoline), rowing, swimming, triathlon and beach volleyball.

Over 1500 International and Australian athletes will be competing at the Sydney Youth Olympic Festival. Competitions will be staged at Sydney Olympic Park and other Olympic venues, including the Sydney International Athletics Centre, Penrith Basketball Stadium, Sydney International Regatta Centre, Dunc Gray Velodrome, State Sports Centre, Sydney International Aquatics Centre, State Hockey Centre and Manly Beach.

Day Passes for the Sydney Youth Olympic Festival are available at the venue (except the Regatta Centre and Manly Beach) at a cost of $10 for adults and $5 Concession. Also available are Festival Tickets, which covers the Opening Ceremony and all other sporting events. The cost of a Festival Ticket is $40 for adults and $25 concession.

“I congratulate the organisers and participants of the Sydney Youth Olympic Festival for creating a marvellous opportunity for young people to share the Olympic spirit and create their own piece of the Sydney Olympic legacy,” Senator Lundy said.

04/01. Media Contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295

9 January 2001 -  Media Release

Young Libs reinvent the 1950s.

The ‘Howard’ generation of Young Liberals has shown themselves to be radically out of touch with young Australians, the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Kate Lundy, said today. 

“The Young Liberal movement’s national convention, which was held in Canberra last weekend, was an exercise in reconstituting regressive and divisive conservative ideology,” Senator Lundy said. 

“While other youth consultative forums have positively embraced issues such as multiculturalism, reconciliation, rights of women and refugees and the changing definitions of family, the Young Liberals have reverted to a highly conservative 1950’s agenda. 

“The Young Liberals National conference debated such antiquated motions as:

“Even former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has been stripped of his `Statesman’ status and considered too progressive for this generation of young Libs who have branded him ‘a traitor to our cause’.

“This generation of Liberals have been groomed by Mr Howard, so it’s no wonder they are so out of touch with the values, ideals, aspirations and ethics of the majority of young Australians. 

“The motions carried by the Young Liberals have more in common with a One Nation conference.“As Labor leader Kim Beazley said last year, John Howard is in love with the past and at war with the future.

"As Australia celebrates the Centenary of Federation this year it is unfortunate that the Young Liberals are stuck with their heads looking the wrong way,” Senator Lundy said. 

03/01.    Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 4882959 

9 January 2001 - Media Release

IT Outsourcing may be scrapped.  

The Coalition’s botched IT Outsourcing Program may be scrapped altogether as a result of the findings of the Humphry Review into the failed $5 billion initiative, Senator Kate Lundy said today.  

“The Humphry Review should call for the scrapping of the IT Outsourcing Program altogether, given the damage it has done to the public service, the IT industry and the delivery of government services,” Senator Lundy said.  

“The Humphry Review was instigated last year after the Australian National Audit Office released a damning report into the whole-of-government IT Outsourcing Program, which is overseen by Finance Minister John Fahey. 

“The completed Humphry Review was handed to John Fahey last year with the expectation that it would be released immediately. 

“There is no reason for Mr Fahey not to release the report’s submissions and recommendations, unless he is trying to hide a potentially damning analysis of his failed IT Outsourcing Program.  

“The Auditor General has already revealed that financial savings from outsourcing were overstated by departments and agencies; implementation costs blew-out from $13 million to over $40 million; and ‘advisers’ fees and expenses totalled over $25 million.  

“I am hopeful that the Humphry Review, like the Auditor General’s report, will bring to light the debacle and mismanagement that has plagued the Coalition’s IT Outsourcing Program under Mr Fahey’s tenure.  

“I call on Mr Fahey to come clean and immediately release the entire Humphry Review - instead of trying to bury it in the hope it goes away,” Senator Lundy said. 

02/01.  Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 6277 3334 or 0418 488295  

3 January 2000 - Media Release

Humphry Review into IT Outsourcing must be made public

The Minister for Finance, Mr Fahey, should immediately make public the findings of the Humphry Review into the Coalition’s $5 billion failed IT Outsourcing Program, Senator Kate Lundy said today. 

The Humphry Review was instigated following a damning report by the Auditor General into the Coalition’s whole-of-government IT Outsourcing Program.  The ANAO report revealed that:

“There is no reason for the Minister not to make the Humphry review public, unless he is trying to cover up the massive flaws and structural faults that have plagued the Coalition’s IT Outsourcing Program,” Senator Lundy said.