2025 Transparency Report—Major IT projects
201. Mr Shane Love to the Premier:
I refer to the Auditor General's 2025 Transparency Report—Major IT projects, which highlights the Cook Labor government's management of major IT projects, including the digital firearms management system, also known as the firearms portal.
(1) Will the Premier admit that the government's rushed and botched implementation of the new Firearms Act has left law abiding West Australians navigating a broken system that simply does not work?
(2) Given the Auditor General's findings, will the Premier now do the sensible thing and immediately ask the Minister for Police to extend the transition period under the Firearms Act 2024 until the portal is fully built, tested and actually capable of supporting compliance?
Mr Roger Cook replied:
(1)–(2) My government has strengthened its approach to IT project delivery by implementing improved governance, guidance and oversight mechanisms. The Office of Digital Government has issued a suite of guidance materials and frameworks to support agencies in planning, delivering and managing IT projects effectively. A new IT modernisation framework will be made available to agencies this week. The framework will directly address issues identified in the audit, guide IT modernisation efforts and improve cost transparency.
The Office of Digital Government and Treasury have worked together on several reforms, including a staged funding model for IT projects that enables better planning and cost certainty prior to full funding of all decisions. We know that the digitisation of government services and processes is a historically significant change for the entire public sector.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the National Party, this is your question that the Premier is responding to.
Mr Roger Cook: We are undertaking a significant transformation of the way we do business and deliver services. The work that DGov is doing is to be commended in terms of continuing to make sure that we modernise the way we do government.
The Leader of the National Party referenced the firearm systems. That was not one of the systems that the Auditor General monitored, but the Auditor General did actually make some observations on our continued efforts to improve and modernise the way we procure IT systems and the way that we run government. In fact, the Auditor General said this morning that she acknowledged the state government's focus in recent years on digital transformation and the upgrade of legacy IT systems that present significant risk to service delivery. Additional guidance and support are now available from the Office of Digital Government, as I said. The Department of the Auditor General's audit found clear benefits from applying these frameworks. In commenting this morning on 6PR, the Auditor General also made the observation that the Office of Digital Government has introduced a project delivery and assurance framework that works very well, and that projects that do not use it fall behind. She also said that in some ways this demonstrates a good news story for the efforts of the Office of Digital Government around its project governance and assurance frameworks.
Point of order
Mr Lachlan Hunter: Direct relevance—the Leader of the National Party asked a very simple question around delaying the rollout of the Premier's failed portal, and he has not even touched on that.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Members! I am going to have to say it again: points of order will be heard in silence. Member, I am not going to uphold the point of order. The Premier or the minister can answer the question in the way they feel fit to respond.
Questions without notice resumed
Mr Roger Cook: The Auditor General went on to say that things are improving under the digital capability fund reporting. These are important and complex projects, but proper planning is required. Finally, she said that the Department of Treasury and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet have done some really good work, but that this is still a work in progress.
It is clear that what my government is doing is transforming the way that we deliver government services, making sure that we continue to modernise government and making sure that the community are the beneficiaries of that. It is complex work and it is work which is continuing to improve, and that is acknowledged by the Auditor General
202. Mr Shane Love to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. It is my understanding that the firearms portal was in fact one of the 10 projects which the Auditor General looked into. In that regard, is it not the responsibility of government to ensure that there is a working system in place—
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Sorry, Leader of the National Party. Members, I cannot hear the question, so I am not sure how the Premier is going to, either. Start again, Leader of the National Party.
Mr Shane Love: Thank you. It is my understanding that the firearms portal was, in fact, one of those projects that was examined by the Auditor General and found to be delayed and over-budget. Given that there is no working system in place at the moment, will the Premier undertake to halt or extend the period of time for transition to the new regulations?
Mr Roger Cook replied:
The member is quite correct. I misspoke when I said that it was not part of the audit; it was part of the audit, but I also note that 14,000 of the 90,000 people who own firearms are part of this system today. I spoke with the Commissioner of Police last week, who informed me that people were working with the system very well, and that it was effective.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: It is just clear that the National Party, with its friend the Liberal Party, does not care about community safety. It does not care about community safety. Members sit around—
Several members interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: They sit around at night—
Mr Shane Love interjected.
The Speaker: The Leader of the National Party!
Mr Roger Cook: They sit around at night in their bedrooms, with the lights dimmed—
Mr Shane Love interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the National Party!
Mr Roger Cook: They sit around at night in their bedrooms with the lights dimmed, thinking of more conspiracies, and more ways that they can perhaps work their magic to try to undermine community safety, but they will not be effective.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: They sit around at night, trying to think of other ways they can undermine community safety, and here they are again, coming into this place, undermining community safety and undermining public confidence in community safety. We will not allow them to do it. We know this is an important job and important work that needs to be done. It is being done increasingly effectively, and the Auditor General has acknowledged that.
