Page 562 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 April 1994
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meeting that its involvement in the super-TAB link system could be in jeopardy should its recent deal with VITAB result in lost turnover for Australian TABs? What guarantee can the Minister give that there will not be any lost turnover for the TABs?
Was he not asked about the link? Was that not a question about the link?
Mr Berry: What date was that?
MR HUMPHRIES: It was 8 December, Minister, at page 4382. That was the question that was asked, and that was a question about the link between the ACTTAB and other TABs, was it not? What did the Minister say in response to that? Surprise, surprise; he talked about "grubby little stunts". "The grubbiest of stunts", he said; that is what this is all about. I quote:
The Liberals have been trying to make a big thing out of this. The Government made a good decision and decorporatised the ACTTAB.
Then he talked about decorporatisation.
Mrs Carnell: He did not want to answer the question.
MR HUMPHRIES: He did not want to answer the question. He was not interested in answering the question. He said:
The ACT is not the only TAB that has an interest in what goes on in Vanuatu ...
The other TABs do not like our success, either.
He directly suggested in this place that the other TABs had competed for the VITAB deal. That was not true. It was not true then; it is not true now. It never has been true. It was blatantly untrue. Did you know that, Minister? I want to quote from a letter from the Totalisator Administration Board of Queensland to Mrs Carnell. It says:
In order that you receive a prompt reply to all questions raised in your letter, I advise that the Queensland TAB did receive an approach from VITAB to submit a proposal for them to gain access to our pools.
Due to legislative restraints on the Queensland TAB, we were not in a position to consider off-shore links with other organisations, and the representatives of VITAB were advised accordingly.
Who were the competitors? Whom were we struggling with? Whom were we fighting at the gatepost to get past, to get in to get the VITAB deal? Who were our competitors, Minister? Interject. Come on, you like to do that. Tell us. Who were our competitors?
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