Page 1862 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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VicTAB has advised that its calculations show that an increase in percentage turnover in ACTTAB operations can be expected. It expects this to be up to 7 per cent in the case of the ACT. A 5 per cent increase would more than make up for the reduction in funding to the Racecourse Development Fund and to the Government. There will be no reduction in percentage payments to the racing clubs or to the ACTTAB. Madam Speaker, I believe that the reduction in commission rates will enable the ACT to recover some of the leakage to New South Wales win and place pools, resulting in a financial benefit for the Government, the ACT race clubs and the ACTTAB.
MR DE DOMENICO (11.21): Madam Speaker, the Liberal Party, the Opposition, will not be supporting these amendments, for one simple reason. When it suits Mr Berry to say, "We have to do what New South Wales and Victoria do", he stands up and says it.
Mr Berry: No, you do not understand.
MR DE DOMENICO: I do understand, Mr Berry. Then all of a sudden he says, "We have decided that we are going to share the burden between the Government and the Racecourse Development Fund".
Mr Lamont: No. It is going to force us out of the pool.
MR DE DOMENICO: You can have your chance later on. If you wish to get up and rebut whatever I have to say, you will have every chance to do it. Madam Speaker, the situation is this: Members of the Racecourse Development Fund - the racing people, the trotting people, the greyhound people - were summoned to the office of the Secretary to the Department of the Environment, Land and Planning and were told that this was what the Government was going to do.
If this is going to affect the revenue - and it is - to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Racecourse Development Fund, you would think that those people would have been consulted before the Government made a decision to do it holus-bolus. That is all we are saying. We are saying, "Talk to people first". You may find that they agree with you, if you talk to them. Give them a chance to put their point of view across to you. You will find that things go through smoothly. Again, you have not done it. For that reason we will not support your amendments.
MR CORNWELL (11.22): Madam Speaker, I rise to support my colleague Mr De Domenico in opposition to these amendments. I do it for another reason, however. I want to make it quite clear, Mr Berry, that your purported supplementary explanatory memorandum is a contemptuous document to present to this Assembly. In relation to this particular amendment, it runs to eight lines. The amendment itself runs to 11. How can you expect anybody in this house to understand what the devil you are talking about when your amendment No. 2 - - -
Mr Berry: I reduced it to the smallest amount possible so that the Liberals could understand it and retain it.
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