You are quite right - they were let down - but not only by the SA Government. Like all Governments, State and Federal, the people of Australia are let down by politicians and Senior Public Servant Mandarins who see outsourcing, cutbacks in crucial areas of the Public Service that monitor performance and adherence to tendering, performance and key performance indicators as money saving and a ticket to higher benefits for themselves.
Time and Tine again I have seen capabilities the taxpayer has paid for that do not meet the terms of the contract or meet the minimum specs. Defence is one area that is woeful in this area. For some reason, most government departments are too scared to take them on in the courts and just accept the lower standard. I some cases, they even reward low performers with even more work and taxpayer funds - look at SERCO for instance (one of the worst performers in Defence Contracts) being awarded a Centrelink call centre contract!
The SA Government has stated this:
"The Government met with the Victorian-based contractor, Ripe Intelligence, on Sunday and decided not to continue its contract with the provider once it expires in June.
The Government said it no longer had confidence in its reliability.
"It's a very serious issue in what we see as a very serious problem with their systems," Mr Picton said.
"That's why we're taking very significant action in terms of advising the public to not use the Alert SA app anymore."
The Government is also considering possible legal action against Ripe Intelligence, which was contracted to provide 99.9 per cent reliability at a cost of $284,000 per year"
Let's see if they put their money - or more importantly SA Taxpayer's money where their mouths are and sue the crap out of the software provider.