$23 Million Registry Flop: Another Costly Cock-Up at Internal Affairs

The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the Department of Internal Affairs for wasting nearly $23 million of taxpayer money on a failed IT upgrade for the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry — a project that’s now been abandoned with nothing to show for it.

“Time and again, government departments dive headfirst into flashy IT projects, only to blow the budget, miss deadlines, and quietly pull the plug, with taxpayers left holding the bill,” said Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf.

“This isn’t just general bureaucratic waste, it’s a chronic failure in how the public service delivers IT,” Relf said. “Whether it’s Internal Affairs now or MFAT’s $33 million cloud project last year, the story is always the same: massive overspending, scope creep, no accountability, and zero results.”

"IT projects have become some of the worst offenders in the public sector when it comes to fiscal irresponsibility. Yet officials keep launching these bloated projects without the capability to manage them and taxpayers are forced to pick up the tab,” said Relf.

“Every time a department fails like this, they get a second chance — but taxpayers don’t get their money back. Writing off tens of millions and calling it a ‘lesson learned’ isn’t good enough. This cycle of failure must end.”