Page 1847 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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Mr Berry: No. You said, "... or, better still, as recommended by the professional advice sought by her Under Treasurer, she should accept - - -
MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Berry refers to what I said at a previous time about a certain leaked letter that once again he disowns because it happens to be a draft and it happens to be unsigned; but he still has not said that it did not exist, because here it is here. This letter is dated 30 September, and yes, it is unsigned. It is addressed to a person, the Acting Under Treasurer, and it says:
When we met last Thursday, we discussed a number of issues relevant to the ACT TAB. As a consequence of that discussion, I undertook to provide you with this summary of the issues which I believe could form the basis for an ongoing appraisal of the flotation prospects of the TAB.
Unless one assumes that this bureaucrat took it upon himself to approach the stockbroker in Sydney over a casual conversation at lunch to talk about the future flotation prospects of the TAB - - -
Mr Cornwell: Highly unlikely.
MR DE DOMENICO: Highly unlikely. Thank you, Mr Cornwell. I do not care whether it is signed or unsigned. The fact that the meeting took place and that that was the discussion must mean something. Mr Berry has not denied that. We still do not know whether the meeting took place, but we assume that it did.
Mr Stevenson: Would you give him leave to?
MR DE DOMENICO: I have already tabled it, Mr Stevenson. It was tabled months ago.
Mr Stevenson: To comment, though? He has not commented.
MR DE DOMENICO: He will not, either. The other salient thing was said by Mr Humphries. Quite correctly, he said, "Where is the evidence of the instability in ACTTAB? Where is the evidence of bad management?". Under the current structure of the TAB, should there be any evidence of instability, should there be any evidence of bad judgment, the two shareholders have a responsibility under the Companies Act and under the Territory Owned Corporations Act to do something about it. They have a direct responsibility right now under the current structure. So you cannot use that argument either, Mr Berry.
Mr Moore referred to the Bill being introduced in September 1990. I cannot even remember where I was in September 1990. Mr Moore said, "Even then we did not get a chance to debate the thing properly. It was rammed through because you had the numbers, Mr Kaine, and we were not to know what was going to happen under this legislation". I am suggesting to Mr Moore that we now know what happened under this legislation. Under this legislation ACTTAB is now turning over $85m to $86m a year. It is returning substantial sums of money to the Government, and it is returning substantial sums of money to the racing industry and the racing codes - greyhound, trotting and horseracing. It is not using any of its accumulated reserves. It is no impost whatsoever on the taxpayers and the ratepayers of the ACT. In fact it is returning money into the pockets of the ratepayers of the ACT. So, Mr Moore, that is what the legislation did. It has been proved a success.
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