$13m in untendered contracts at Ministry of Health

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Wed Nov 15 2006 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

$13m in untendered contracts at Ministry of Health

Wednesday, 15 November 2006, 2:10 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

More than $13 million has been paid out by the Ministry of Health in the past financial year in untendered contracts, the National Party has revealed.

National’s Associate Health spokesman, Dr Jonathan Coleman, told Parliament’s Health Select Committee today that despite an Auditor-General’s report being severely critical of such practices, the Ministry of Health paid out $13.1 million in untendered contracts during the 2005/06 financial year.

Many of the contracts were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“This is outrageous and poor financial practice,” says Dr Coleman.

“The Ministry was told by the Auditor-General that it was unacceptable for contracts to be awarded on a sole-provider basis, yet in the 2006 financial year we find $13 million worth of just such contracts.

“Spending public money is a huge responsibility, and tendering processes ensure that the public gets the best possible value for money.

“We already know from the pledge card rort that Pete Hodgson feels entitled to ignore the Auditor-General. Now it’s clear that he’s running his Health Ministry on the same basis,” says Dr Coleman.

Ends

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