WA government procurement an 'administrative bungle', losing $400m

It has been reported the Western Australian government’s attempt to centralise back-room corporate services for government agencies has lost taxpayers $400 million and is set to cost another $1 billion, despite being dumped.

WA Premier Colin Barrett yesterday scrapped the costly experiment following an investigation by the state’s Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) which found it would never achieve any savings. 

The ERA estimated the cost of pulling out would be $1 billion over five years and almost $2 billion over 10 years - double the cost of building the state's long-awaited football stadium.

The revelations yesterday threw the WA budget into disarray. Finance Minister Simon O'Brien admitted "adjustments" would have to be made because non-existent savings had been factored into the budget and the new costs had to be met.

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