I had some contact from the Opposition today.
The gist was as follows.
1. We all know Queensland Liberal Senator Sue Boyce, has been a prominent critic of NEHTA and the Government’s bungling on its e-health program – and has been keen to get at the truth on these matters.
2. It seems she has been told that NEHTA officers will not be attending the Senate Estimates Committee next Thursday (June 3) and face close questioning about what they have been doing with millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, because it is a private company and not part of the Department of Health and Ageing.
3. We know DoHA boss Jane Halton, is a member of the company Board, and so she will be expected to answer all NEHTA questions – which means anything of any detail and substance will have to go on notice.
4. This means government spin doctors will be able to take their time to massage the replies which may not even surface this side of the election.
Given NEHTA wants to get some legislation passed by the Senate and wants to be involved in the new funding for e-Health this seems rather like refusing public accountability is administering a ‘bullet to the foot’.
If they don’t front we will know they have some major issues to hide!
Please understand my blogs key 3rd objective is to get accountability from NEHTA. They now know they need to do better in this regard as at least the Opposition has noticed just how un-accountable they are!
To quote:
“The third, sadly, is now to try and force accountability for the actions of, and the funds spent, by NEHTA.”
Making sure they are at the Senate Estimates hearings is vital if NEHTA wishes to survive Pty Ltd Company or not!
I will take help from anyone to get some accountability. I am totally non-partisan on all this – I just want disclosure and honesty – as has been a theme of the blog since 2006.
David.
So they want half a billion, but its no questions asked? The record of government on IT projects is so poor that you would have to be skeptical anyway, but hiding behind its private company status is the last straw. If this is true NEHTA has to go. Many others doubt the value for money thus far, but some accountability is essential.
ReplyDeleteSenator Boyce is the most forensically astute politician I have come across who has taken an interest in NEHTA. She has the intellect and strategic thinking to ensure that whatever slithering avoidance tactics Ms Halton and NeHTA come up with to avoid pin point accountability the Senator will and can prevail. It is absolutely imperative for the long term good of the health system that she does. Good luck Senator
ReplyDeleteAnonymously though, its a joke. Just like the Government.
ReplyDeleteIt is outrageous! If NEHTA has a coherent plan and knows what it intends doing, its officers ought to be able to explain and defend the program. As should Jane Halton as the most long-standing director on NEHTA's board.
ReplyDeletePreviously, Halton has played a game in Estimates of not-knowing what NEHTA is doing - at least I assume it's a game as it'd be pretty appalling if she really is so clueless - and clearly Senator Boyce is trying to pin her down.
Good luck, Senator!
I have just been through as many of the Senate Estimates hearings as I could locate which have involved sharp questioning by the Senators of Jane Halton over HealthConnect, MediConnect and NeHTA. It is very instructive to examine the 'type' of responses proffered by Jane Halton against the facts as we knew them to be at the time the questions were asked and in the light of what we also now know today. Senator Boyce's persistent sharp questioning at the most recent enquiry stands out as being the one and only time some real truth has been gleaned. All the others enquiries and questioning have reflected an incredibly capacity to obfuscate, distort the truth, avoid the facts, divert attention.
ReplyDeleteThis leads one to ponder - what type of personality can continue in that vein and for how long can it continue until the modus operandi is revealed?