Page 4980 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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Another aspect of the transitional provisions worthy of mention is that the Bill provides specifically for the new TAB company to inherit the employment contracts of existing TAB staff. (Quorum formed) GALA also had public servants on attachment to perform regulatory functions. These staff are being transferred to the Department of Justice and Community Services and to the Finance Bureau respectively. Different transitional arrangements are made in respect of the chief executive of GALA. The chief executive is not an employee. Of course, ACTTAB Ltd has to be free to choose its own chief executive. For this reason clause 7 of the Bill provides only that the current chief executive of GALA is deemed to be the acting chief executive of the new TAB company until such time as the company makes its own appointment.
I turn now to the amendments to the Betting (Totalizator Administration) Act. The Attorney-General has already outlined, in his presentation speech, the shift from a full regulatory regime to a TAB/punter relationship governed primarily by the law of contract. The Government does recognise, however, that in many aspects of its business the TAB is a monopoly. It also recognises that betting needs to be subject to controls for social purposes. Hence, the continuation of the prohibition on credit betting, for example.
To protect the punter, clause 19 of the Bill provides for a new section 46 in the principal Act. The effect of this new section is that a copy of the rules of betting - that is, the betting contract - and a copy of this Betting Act must be available for inspection at any TAB office or agency. The Government also proposes to make regulations extending the jurisdiction of the ombudsman and freedom of information Acts to the TAB, although, consistent with practice at Commonwealth level, the FOI Act will not apply in respect of the competitive commercial, as distinct from monopoly commercial, activities of the TAB.
I now turn to the Liquor (Amendment) Bill No. 2. The fact that the Registrar of Liquor Licences will be a public servant located in the Department of Justice and Community Services reflects the Government's view that liquor licensing is a regulatory function that belongs in the mainstream of government, not in an authority which has an otherwise commercial charter. The Government also recognises, however, that licensing decisions need to be made objectively and without outside interference. For this reason, the registrar's position is a statutory one, with appeals lying to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal rather than to the Minister. The decision making process will work as follows. The matter will come before the registrar, usually in the form of an application but in some cases by other means, such as a complaint. The registrar will ask the deputy registrar to investigate the matter and to prepare a report.
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