Moana Mackey

Labour's Housing spokesperson Moana Mackey is calling on Housing Minister Maurice Williamson to intervene and assure taxpayers that the money being spent by Housing New Zealand to develop a business case for replacing their IT systems is justified.

"Yesterday the business case was costing $6 million, today they've admitted it's around $10 million, and insiders tell us its actually likely to exceed $20 million. That kind of money could build and upgrade a lot of houses.

Ms Mackey said that in the current funding environment, and with the National Government slashing public services, it is more important than ever that the Minister reassure Kiwis that this significant expenditure is justified.

"All this taxpayer money is being spent to investigate a change in IT systems which many say is not needed. I'm told that Housing New Zealand has commissioned reviews which tell them that their existing systems are reliable and fit for purpose. Existing systems are more than flexible enough to adapt to any changes in Housing New Zealand practices - indeed that's why a tailor-made system was purchased in the 1990s."

Ms Mackey said the Minister needed to explain what was so wrong with Housing New Zealand's current IT systems and practices that changing them could result in the claimed $70 million worth of savings per year.

"That is an extraordinary claim and so far the Minister and his department have been unwilling or unable to provide details about how such savings were calculated. They have however been backing away from it, with$70 million now representing the "maximum possible savings".

"It seems extraordinary that a government department would be so careless with public money, and I eagerly await the Minister's explanations. His silence and the silence of his officials is not reassuring.