MacGibbon also mentions the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) Capability Review of 2013 that found the ABS to be “insular, inward looking, reactive” and recommended an overhaul of its culture. That overhaul largely hasn't happened, leaving the ABS “an exemplar of established government practice: ticking the boxes, but not appreciating the challenges change presents.”
This, to me is the main problem.
Yes, IBM have failed, as they have before with government contracts but those failures, like this one, were made far more likely by the lack of understanding, responsibility and basic diligence of the associated agencies.
What angers me - and anger is the correct word - is how defensive the ABS were throughout. They seemed utterly unwilling to even entertain the possibility that they weren't infallible and that maybe, just maybe, some of the scores of highly intelligent, experienced critics might have had a point.
But no, it was all: we know what we're doing, we're right about it and anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand the facts.