❓ Opposition questions the Health Minister's handling of fraud and corruption risks within WA Health, referencing a Corruption and Crime Commission report. The Minister defends the government's actions, acknowledging shortcomings but highlighting improvements and lack of systemic corruption.
AnsweredQoN 419Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH — CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION REPORT
419. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Health:
I refer the minister to his failure
to address systemic problems related to the management of fraud and corruption
risks within WA Health as outlined in today's Corruption and Crime
Commission report.
(1) Why did the
minister allow WA Health's fraud and corruption plan to be put on hold
in 2009 and not be replaced?
(2) Why has the
minister failed to act on issues of gift acceptance and possible corruption and
fraud in procurement, despite being aware for the last three years of the
potential for such corruption?
(3) Why has the minister allowed
widespread noncompliance with legislation and government policies?
419. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Health:
I refer the minister to his failure
to address systemic problems related to the management of fraud and corruption
risks within WA Health as outlined in today's Corruption and Crime
Commission report.
(1) Why did the
minister allow WA Health's fraud and corruption plan to be put on hold
in 2009 and not be replaced?
(2) Why has the
minister failed to act on issues of gift acceptance and possible corruption and
fraud in procurement, despite being aware for the last three years of the
potential for such corruption?
(3) Why has the minister allowed
widespread noncompliance with legislation and government policies?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
The report of the Corruption and Crime Commission was released today and it was
quite harsh in its criticism of the Department of Health and its response to
procurement policies as part of the CCC's investigation. It came about
because of the conviction of Mr Wickramasinghe. I will just call him the
individual! So Mr Wickramasinghe, during a Labor term of government, under its
watch, committed significant crime from 2003 to 2009. From about the time Labor
came into government to just after it lost government was the period when he
committed these crimes. Now, as a result of that and it being brought to the
attention of the Corruption and Crime Commission in 2009, the commission initiated
an inquiry into that individual. Of course, while it is undertaking an inquiry,
we are not able to then do an inquiry. The Corruption and Crime Commission then
decided to do a further inquiry, having found that he had undertaken these
things during a Labor term of government. It wanted to see how the whole of
Health operated and it went through all the procurement services of WA Health.
That inquiry was carried out in 2011 and 2012. We got the report from that, so
we had been waiting to see what it had found. We think we are doing a pretty
good job, to be honest, in the way we manage procurement in this state.
Mr M. McGowan : It
is not what this says! Are you denying that?
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Does that contradict the sentence that I just said? My sentence was —
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
will repeat that sentence again, Mr Speaker, for the Leader of the Opposition.
He should listen to the sentence. Our understanding was that we were doing a
pretty good job in security around procurement management. The inquiry was in
2011–12; it was not until the end of last year—that is, 2013—that
we got the report back that says we were doing fine with contracts over the
value of $20 million. Our procedures were very good, but below that amount we
were not doing fine. Our staff did not have enough training to understand all
the issues around how people could be corrupt, and we did not have the
procedures in place to look over those staff properly. As soon as we received
that report, we put in place a chief procurement officer to oversee all of
those procurements and we initiated significant additional training.
We accept the report and its findings, and we will accept all
the recommendations made by the Corruption and Crime Commission. I guess the
only good news out of the report is that having done all those investigations,
while the commission found there are significant failings in the procedures
that we undertake with contracts under $20 million, it did not find any
evidence of systemic corruption or crime within the health department. For me,
that was excellent news, but clearly a lot of work needs to be done. We are
major spenders on procurement—something in the order of $3.5 billion a
year—and it is absolutely critical that we have good systems in place
to make sure that what happened under a Labor government's watch does
not happen under ours.
The report of the Corruption and Crime Commission was released today and it was
quite harsh in its criticism of the Department of Health and its response to
procurement policies as part of the CCC's investigation. It came about
because of the conviction of Mr Wickramasinghe. I will just call him the
individual! So Mr Wickramasinghe, during a Labor term of government, under its
watch, committed significant crime from 2003 to 2009. From about the time Labor
came into government to just after it lost government was the period when he
committed these crimes. Now, as a result of that and it being brought to the
attention of the Corruption and Crime Commission in 2009, the commission initiated
an inquiry into that individual. Of course, while it is undertaking an inquiry,
we are not able to then do an inquiry. The Corruption and Crime Commission then
decided to do a further inquiry, having found that he had undertaken these
things during a Labor term of government. It wanted to see how the whole of
Health operated and it went through all the procurement services of WA Health.
That inquiry was carried out in 2011 and 2012. We got the report from that, so
we had been waiting to see what it had found. We think we are doing a pretty
good job, to be honest, in the way we manage procurement in this state.
Mr M. McGowan : It
is not what this says! Are you denying that?
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Does that contradict the sentence that I just said? My sentence was —
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
will repeat that sentence again, Mr Speaker, for the Leader of the Opposition.
He should listen to the sentence. Our understanding was that we were doing a
pretty good job in security around procurement management. The inquiry was in
2011–12; it was not until the end of last year—that is, 2013—that
we got the report back that says we were doing fine with contracts over the
value of $20 million. Our procedures were very good, but below that amount we
were not doing fine. Our staff did not have enough training to understand all
the issues around how people could be corrupt, and we did not have the
procedures in place to look over those staff properly. As soon as we received
that report, we put in place a chief procurement officer to oversee all of
those procurements and we initiated significant additional training.
We accept the report and its findings, and we will accept all
the recommendations made by the Corruption and Crime Commission. I guess the
only good news out of the report is that having done all those investigations,
while the commission found there are significant failings in the procedures
that we undertake with contracts under $20 million, it did not find any
evidence of systemic corruption or crime within the health department. For me,
that was excellent news, but clearly a lot of work needs to be done. We are
major spenders on procurement—something in the order of $3.5 billion a
year—and it is absolutely critical that we have good systems in place
to make sure that what happened under a Labor government's watch does
not happen under ours.
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