A top Queensland Health bureaucrat wanted out of a problem-plagued state government payroll system as far back as 2008, a memo shows.
The system has since been rolled out causing huge problems.
Thousands of Queensland Health's 74,000 employees have had their pays significantly delayed over the last two pay cycles.
The Opposition has produced an August 2008 briefing note to the director-general of Queensland Health about the creation of the whole-of-government payroll, rostering and human resources systems.
In it, the deputy director-general of corporate services expresses concerns on the time lag in developing the new whole-of-government system.
He said the initiative had "failed to deliver any viable alternative to Queensland Health in the past four years with a cost burn of about $400 million".
He suggests Queensland Health should push ahead with its own system due to the urgent need to replace the existing, inefficient one.
Queensland Health should separate itself from the whole-of-government program immediately and quickly seek alternatives, the document says.
Health Minister Paul Lucas said he could not comment on the memo but acknowledged there was a long history of delays in rolling out the new system.
"What I'm far more concerned about frankly is the fact that it was certified on the 14 March 2010 as ready to go and clearly when it rolled out, it wasn't," he said.
Mr Lucas has tasked KPMG with reviewing the system.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Robert Schwarten later told parliament the system did work, but had been implemented incorrectly.
"The (Opposition's) allegation that the system does not work again highlights the stupidity and the IT ignoramuses that sit over there," Mr Schwarten said.
"There has been nothing brought to my attention to suggest that the system is a failure."
He said he was awaiting the findings of the review.
